Gary K’s review published on Letterboxd:
Film 12/31 - A Film with a black lead
I’ll probably treat this as a bonus in the end as I’m trying to limit my Hooptober to first time watches for the most part, but I wanted to check this out again for the first time in at least a decade to prepare for the sequel.
I remembered the set up, but little of the machinations of the story. This is a nasty bit of business from the get go. The pre-credit sequence lays out the set up vividly and makes it clear that the movie isn’t going to shy away from the gruesome results of the trap cubes.
I love that the movie never botherS to offer a final act exposition of who constructed the cube and why and why these inhabitants were chosen. As one character forcefully explains in the middle of the movie - no one knows. That works well to amp up the dread and raise the stakes. We begin to accept that know easy resolution will be coming. The characters are given ample opportunity to air out their increasing paranoia and panic to the point where all of their true characters are on display - frayed as they may be. This plays out like an extended twilight zone episode in that respect.
The ending still packs a solid punch. Incredibly well conceived and executed debut from Natali.
