Review of Buried

In 2006, the American truck driver Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), who was hired by the CRT contractor to work delivering supplies in Iraq, awakes buried alive inside a coffin in the Iraq desert. He recalls that his convoy had been attacked by rebels about two hours ago and finds a cell phone, a flashlight and his lighter inside the box. Paul unsuccessfully tries to contact authorities in CRT, FBI and state department office to disclose his situation, but he finds bureaucracy or absent people. Then he tries to reach his wife Linda, but she does not answer the phone. Out of the blue, one abductor contacts him asking a 5 million-dollar ransom and a video reading a note that is also inside the coffin. Paul realizes that the oxygen is running out and he does not have much time to survive. When he is contacted by the specialist in abduction Dan Brenner, Paul has high hopes to tracked by Dan and found in time.

"Buried" is a claustrophobic and tense thriller with only one character and location and practically in real time. The plot uses a storyline similar to "Phone Booth" with a man trapped alone in a box having only a phone to contact the outside world, but in a pitch black with flashes of the location instead; therefore scarier than inside a phone booth. The viewer does not know exactly what is happening, and learns through the dialogs of the character. Ryan Reynolds has a great performance and succeeds in keeping the attention of the viewer along 95 minutes running time. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Enterrado Vivo" ("Buried Alive")