Cube (film series)

Cube (film series)
Cube theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vincenzo Natali Andrzej Sekuła Ernie Barbarash
Written by	André Bijelic Graeme Manson Vincenzo Natali Sean Hood Ernie Barbarash
Release dates	1997 2002 2004
Country	Canada
Language	English

Cube is a Canadian psychological thriller horror film series. The three films were directed by Vincenzo Natali,^[1] Andrzej Sekuła,^[2] and Ernie Barbarash^[3] respectively.

All three films are based on the same premise: there is a gigantic, mechanical, cubical structure of unknown purpose and origin, made up of lots of smaller cubical rooms. Each of these rooms has six doors, one on each face of the cube, which lead into adjacent, identically decorated rooms, only differing by colour. Some of these rooms are "safe", while others are equipped with deadly booby traps such as flamethrowers and razorwire. In some cases it is possible to detect a trap by throwing an object into the room first, although this method is not always reliable due to the trigger mechanism of certain traps.

In each case, a group of strangers awakens in this mysterious structure, without any knowledge of how or why they are there. In order to escape from the prison, they must band together and use their combined skills and talents to avoid the traps and navigate out of the maze, while also trying to solve the mystery of what the cube is and why they are in it. However, the pressure of being in the cube generally turns one of the prisoners into a homicidal maniac who preys on the others.

Cube Zero was slightly different from the first two films in that it also dealt with the people on the outside of the cube whose job it was to control the cube and oversee those within.

In March 2011, Lionsgate announced it was considering an additional film in the series, tentatively titled Cube 3D.^[4]

Films

• Cube (1997), the first film in the series, follows a group of seven frightened strangers who find themselves trapped in a bizarre maze of cubical rooms, with no memory of how they arrived there.^[1] Searching for a way out, they soon discover that many rooms contain lethal booby traps, while others are safe. Initially the prisoners band together in attempt to escape, however as their stay becomes longer the prisoners begin to fight each other because of the stress of their imprisonment. Despite the film's low budget, it achieved moderate commercial success and has developed a cult following due to its surreal, Kafkaesque setting.

• Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) is a sequel to the film Cube.^[2] The dusky, dingy rooms of the first film are replaced with high-tech, brightly lit rooms, and the conventional technology of the original traps are replaced with threats based on abstract mathematics. A new group of prisoners quickly discovers that, unlike the original Cube, the rooms in their prison appear to shift instantaneously. They realize they are inside a hypercube in which gravity, space, and time are distorted. This time the prisoners each have a connection to the cube's suggested creator.

• Cube Zero (2004) is a prequel to the film Cube.^[3] Unlike the first two films, which were limited to the prisoners' point of view, the film concerns two characters, Eric Wynn and Dodd, who are technicians observing the prisoners. Wynn finds himself caring about the fate of Cassandra Rains, a woman in the Cube, and decides to risk his job and even his life to help her try to escape. The rooms are similar to the original film, except that the colors are not as bright as in the first film.

Prisoners details in each film

Cube

Cube 2: Hypercube

Cube Zero

Mythology

The world in which the Cube series is set is kept secret from the viewer of the films throughout. The first Cube, in particular, portrays nothing of the world in which the film is set, who is responsible for the Cube, or why the prisoners are there. Hints are, however, given throughout the second and third films. The film's writer Vincenzo Natali apparently wrote a script detailing the world outside the cube but destroyed it after deciding not to create a movie about it. The plot devices used in the Hypercube and Cube Zero (iZON and the government) are likely not (or only very loosely) related to Natali's original idea.

The second film reveals that a company named "IZON" (/aɪzɑːn/ as in "eyes on") is responsible for the development of the Cubes, and the third film indicates that their construction and operation has either been ordered or directly carried out by an unidentified government.

See also

• Cinema of Canada
• The Cube

References