Login
Things in "Buried" start tense and never once relent. Paul, an American trucker doing contractor work in Iraq, is taken hostage and held for ransom in a coffin beneath the desert sands by an insurgent. A real time clock runs on us we watch panic, desperation, claustrophobia, and worse faceless terrors fall upon the antagonist.
"Buried" is quite the ambitious little film. It is also an incredibly monumental achievement given that it was made on a shoestring budget, with an onscreen cast of one, and takes place entirely in a singular location. These elements are a virtual recipe for disaster if not handled with surgical precision. Thankfully, the film does just that. Making sure to slice you open with expertise before hammering your nerves with psychological brutality.
The film constantly has you on edge, never making the mistake of revealing too much too soon. Instead we are dropped into the midst of the situation and clues to the goings-on trickle in slowly making the bigger picture and the soul-crushing implications come at you in venomous doses that never lose their bite. This always ensures that the viewer remains constantly engaged and never succumbs to the exhaustion of being stuck in such close literal and figurative quarters, a truly miraculous balancing act.
The master stroke of "Buried", however, is that visceral terror of the situation is but one facet of the multitude avenues of horror that Paul is subjected to. Here is a man faced with the faceless, voices on the phone that control, willingly or not, every last second of his life. His captor is an insurgent looking for retribution and security for his family and cares not for Paul's life when his own is on the line. His potential rescuer is a military professional that plays his role by the numbers but can't hide the fact that he has seen the cold statistical reality of rescue. His employers are bureaucrats concerned more with the bottom line than safety. In fact, every phone call feels like a flurry of blows to any semblance of hope.
"Buried" never stops coming at you like a rabid dog. It is relentless, it is nerve racking, and it also sports one hell of an ending. When all is said and done, you'll think that being stuck in a coffin isn't as bad as everything else that might come with it.
Ryan Reynolds, an actor we most regard for his comedic chops, does an amazing job at taking us on an psychological roller coaster ride and being a beacon of empathy without every traipsing into that dangerous and murky territory where the portrayal becomes "too much". Much like everything else in this film he is pitch perfect.
Truly, "Buried" is a master class in psychological terror. It also very cleverly slips in commentary on the socio-political situations that arise in war-strewn countries and all those entities involved on the ground there. Taut, suspenseful, and utterly tenacious with its grip on your frazzled nerves, I give this underappreciated gem a 10/10.
