To be honest I didn't know what to expect from this film.
From the start you could tell this was a film for film makers. As with most genre movies they rely heavily on not giving much away, allowing you to interpret what you will and formulate your own opinions. Oddly enough I kind of liked it, but there are things I did not like.
What I liked: If you are not into slow burn movies then you need to give this a miss. I found the pacing of the movie to be spot on. There were moments I wanted things to move a little faster, but I was quickly corrected upon receiving the payoff. The cinematography was perfect, I love the dark tones and intentional colour palette. Reminded me a lot of SAW, although it didn't have the same gore. Box Metaphor leaves a great deal to the imagination, and that's where I like to live. The acting was okay (more on that later), I liked the score and sound design. I could see what the director was going for and I genuinely believe he achieved his goal. I think a bigger budget would have gone a long way, but the low budget is what gives the film its chalm.
What I didn't like: Let's talk about the acting. The acting was acceptable but the one thing that kept taking me out of it were the Australian accents. A quick search and I found that it was made by an incredibly small production company based in Sydney Australia. After checking out their instagram, you could clearly see how and I guess why they made this film. From what I could find they started shooting in 2021, yes we all know how the world was. In short I can see they did what they did with what they had. I would have liked to see more of and about the supporting cast, this could be explored more in perhaps Box:Metaphor 2?
Would I recommend this film? Yes.