The Box

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As the movie opens, we meet STEPHEN ­ — aspiring

philosophy PhD candidate and gentle pacifist ­ —

nervously rehearsing the PROPOSAL he intends to present

to his girlfriend ALICE who is coming over later that night.

He is interrupted by a knock at the door ­ — it’s CAL, his

girlfriend’s father, who has come to put a stop to the

proposal that he intuited was coming.

He initially expresses his concern with Stephen’s plan to

pursue a teaching career, citing Stephen’s student loans

and the obvious financial struggles they will have to

endure. But as Stephen pushes back, Cal reveals the real

reason he disapproves: he believes Stephen would not be

able to act as protector to his daughter, citing an incident

in a bar the previous year in which Alice was grabbed by

another man while Stephen ­ — paralyzed by fear ­ —

stood by and did nothing.Haunted by this memory, Stephen tries in vain to defend

his inaction but Cal cuts him off, presenting Stephen with

the chance to change his mind through a bizarre challenge:

hit Cal just once to prove his willingness to take action.

Stephen resists desperately until, goaded by Cal’s sharp

prodding, he takes a wild swing, striking Cal. with all

his might.

The blow causes Cal to fall and hit his head, his body falls

falling to the floor lifelessly. Detecting no vitals signs, a

panicked Stephen hides the body in a storage chest just as

Alice arrives.

She senses something is amiss but uncovers Stephen’s plan

to propose, which he does reluctantly. As Stephen then tries

to confess unsuccessfully to what he has done to Cal, the

evening spirals out of control as old grievances resurface

and the pent up bitterness about the bar incident flares. At

the climax, Stephen confesses to Cal’s apparent death, but

when Alice opens the chest to confront this grim reality, it’s

empty.

Confusion mounts until Cal reenters, alive, returning to

collect his forgotten phone and claiming he had been

there earlier to invite Stephen on a fishing trip. He feigns

ignorance about any altercation or his “death.”Disturbed by what seems like Stephen’s delusion and

duplicity, Alice leaves him, the engagement now off.

Once alone, Cal confesses that though he had been indeed

knocked out, he had fooled Stephen with a weak pulse.

He woke up and heard their entire argument from inside

the box and concluded that the two of them could never

survive, deciding he must sabotage their relationship to

protect his daughter.

When Cal tries to leave on good terms, Stephen takes

another swing at him. This time Cal puts Stephen down,

but not before Stephen mistakenly grabs the gun from Cal’s

belt. To help Stephen redeem himself and deal with his

cowardly past, Cal forces him to pull the trigger of the gun,

which — trained on Cal — he assures Stephen is empty.

After a terrified resistance, Stephen pulls the trigger —

CLICK! The gun is empty. Cal leaves, and Stephen finally

forgives himself. He has lost Alice but, perhaps, regained

himself. He begins to cry, letting a lifetime of fear and guilt

come tumbling out as he begins his new life, free from

guilt and shame.

The film ends as it began — Stephen, alone, saying to

himself, “I can do this.”