Buried (2010)

Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.

Director:

Rodrigo Cortés

Writer:

Chris Sparling

Stars:

Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García Pérez, Robert Paterson

10 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Reynolds	...	Paul Conroy
José Luis García Pérez	...	Jabir (voice) (as José Luis García-Pérez)
Robert Paterson	...	Dan Brenner (voice)
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Alan Davenport (voice)
Samantha Mathis	...	Linda Conroy (voice)
Ivana Miño	...	Pamela Lutti
Warner Loughlin	...	Maryanne Conroy / Donna Mitchell / Rebecca Browning (voice)
Erik Palladino	...	Special Agent Harris (voice)
Kali Rocha	...	911 Operator (voice)
Chris William Martin	...	State Department Rep. (voice)
Cade Dundish	...	Shane Conroy (voice)
Mary Birdsong	...	411 Female Operator (voice) (as Mary Songbird)
Kirk Baily	...	411 Male Operator (voice)
Anne Lockhart	...	CRT Operator (voice)
Robert Clotworthy	...	CRT Spokesman (voice)

Storyline

Waking groggy in pitch darkness, Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working in Iraq in 2006, slowly realizes he is trapped inside a wooden coffin, buried alive. With his cigarette lighter, he can see the trap he is in, and he quickly realizes that there's not enough air for him to live long. He finds within the coffin a working cellphone, which allows him contact with the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.

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Plot Keywords:

coffin | buried alive | iraq | desert | darkness | 

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Taglines:

Your fate is never sealed.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Spain]

Country:

Spain USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 2010 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Enterrado

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£820,631 (UK) (1 October 2010)

Gross:

$1,028,658 (USA) (5 November 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Versus Entertainment, Safran Company, The, Dark Trick Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alfred Hitchcock films Rope and Lifeboat were an inspiration on Rodrigo Cortés when making Buried.

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Goofs

The phone in close ups is shown to have multiple bars for the battery life. However, from a distance, the phone is shown to have one battery bar that just slowly decreases as a whole. It's actually 2 different phones he uses.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Paul Conroy: [screaming] Hey!

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Connections

Referenced in Oslo Fright Fest 2010 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Through the Monsoon"
Written by Bill Kaulitz, Rebecca Roth & David Jost
Performed by Tokio Hotel

User Reviews

Claustrophobic and Tense

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")