The Box

Moody, sinister, packed with references to TV cheese and—for a while, at least—perfectly happy to throw logic to the wind, Donnie Darko director Kelly’s alleged attempt at a commercial project draws inspiration not only from the Richard Matheson doodle “Button, Button”—the movie’s purported source—but also from the story’s 1986 adaptation for the new Twilight Zone. A high-school teacher (Diaz) and her husband (Marsden), a NASA scientist, receive a device on their doorstep; a mysterious visitor (Langella) explains that if they push the button within 24 hours, somebody they don’t know will die. In exchange, they’ll receive $1 million. In its unexplored avenues and refusal of payoff, the film often suggests the footage for a long-lost David Lynch pilot, at least until Kelly starts quoting 2001. Nervy, personal and possibly career-ending, The Box boasts more than enough psychodrama for a cult classic.

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