User reviews

This freaky and clever film chronicles fear , suspicion , desperation , paranoia of four mathematics (Elena Ballesteros , Alejo Sauras , Santi Millan and Luis Homar) completely strangers who are reunited in a Kafkaesque room by a mysterious host named Fermat (Federico Luppi) on the pretext of resolving a great enigma . Each one plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers to why they've been imprisoned . The widely varying personality characteristics work together utilizing their given abilities and talents to survive the deadly trap which guards the colored room . The room in which they find themselves turns out to be a shrinking room that will crush them if they do not discover in time what connects them all and why someone might wish to murder them.

The picture succeeds because the thriller , tension , suspense , as well as a superbly written script delving into the human psyche in such extreme situation and ours instinctive urges for survival . Despite its low budget the picture manages to be intelligent , intriguing and thrilling . The good thing about this film is that the directors made it on a shoestring budget only having to do one set , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . ¨Fermat's room¨ bears special resemblance to ¨The cube¨ (by Vicenzo Natali) , as there's also a dangerously premise about strangers closed attempting to find an exit and resolving enigmas and using their mathematical skills they press forward and backward through the walls to avoid get smashed because the room is reducing itself . Cast is frankly well giving fine performances , though little known with exception the veterans Federico Luppi (Cronos) who holds a strong Argetinean accent and Luis Homar (Backwoods , Los Borgia) . This motion picture relatively cheap was tautly directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña in his first and only movie because they're usually writers for television . This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and mysterious film to be liked for suspense fans , turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years . Rating : Better than average .

I heard about this film ages ago in Empire Magazine in an article that was really talking it up in regards the use of mathematics as the base for the plot and how smart the film was, like the geek of the school was also the captain of the football team. It was a long time before I got to see it for myself but I was looking forward to it because the article had made me interested in it. In reality the film is not this math and theory heavy film that the magazine had suggested because, although it does use this as its base, it is quite superficially done. This sounds like a criticism but it is not because the veneer of maths makes the film feel smarter and the novelty makes it feel more engaging and it works because it draws the viewer into the world without making one feel like an idiot for not being a genius mathematician. What it then builds on this is essentially a Saw movie but aimed at those who long ago gave up on that franchise for simply being one cruel gory sequence after another.

The plot is engaging because it doesn't give you a gory release but rather keeps the pressure mounting in the same way as the moving walls keep the pressure mounting on the characters. Instead it gives you the overall mystery of why the characters are in the room and who put them in there but also keeps things pressurised by throwing puzzles at the characters as they move along. These puzzles do have an element of "magazine puzzler" about them rather than being mathematical formulae but again this keeps the film accessible for the viewer. OK the puzzles are maybe a bit in contrast with this bed of mathematics but the general tension of the film stops you picking holes in this regard. Meanwhile the walls keep closing and the characters are constantly reacting to the pressure, while the audience do the same. I'm not sure how many repeat viewings it would stand up to and, to be honest, I'm not totally sure that the whole plot would stand up in the cold light of day either but what it works the tension really well so that, on your fist viewing, it is a gripping and engaging affair.

The director makes very good use of the room, always managing to make us feel like we are in there even as the room shrinks. There are also a couple of cool shots such as the couple of times the camera looks from directly above, pulling away to show things in a different way. The cast are a driving force within the film. OK perhaps their reactions are not always totally realistic within the context of the situation but they are almost always realistic by virtue of how well they deliver. As the pressure mounts in the room they do a good job of showing it and they stay reasonably true to their characters. Are they Oscar-winning performances? Well, no, but they are very good at doing what the film demands and doing their bit to add to and increase the tension which is what hooks the viewer.

Fermat's Room is not a brilliant film because it is not without its flaws but it covers them really well by delivering in the key area of tension. The concept is simple but effective and is built on by several layers of mystery and good performances; these suck the viewer in and prevent you picking too many holes while you are watching it. Comparing it to the Saw franchise is perhaps not a fair comparison because the two are only similar in concept but it does make for an easy tag because Fermat's Room is a smarter and more enjoyable version of the Saw movies – with real tension instead of just gore, it engages the audience rather than trying to gross them out and we care about the characters rather than just wishing to see how they are killed. It is perhaps not as smart as it would like to be but it is still an enjoyable and engaging film.

Gets off to a great start.... BUT...........

FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

Fermat's Room is a Psychological Mystery/Thriller offering from Spain that gets off to a very sure-footed start and seemed to hold out the promise of a very fast-paced and taut film!

The storyline itself is entertaining enough, but the characters never really flagged my interest. Basically, the chemistry was lacking!

FERMAT certainly did have its moments.... but fell considerably short of its potential. It really grabbed me from the opening credits, although hours later a little cerebral ricocheting had me recalling other films that had similar opening credit scenes. Unfortunately, no titles come to mind. If you watch it, let me know if your memory serves you better than mine!

Its not often you see a film that is both Co-Directed AND Co-Written by 2 young men (both 30 at the time) from different small towns in Spain. Luis Piedrahita, who gets top-billing both as Co-Director and Co-Writer, is a real Renaissance man. IMDb lists him as a Writer, Director, Actor, Comedian and award-winning Magician....of all things!

Ah, and therein lies the rub! Like its #1 Co-Director, FERMAT is just TOO busy, trying to pack in too much, too quickly, in its 85 minutes! At times, it wants to go in 5 different directions all at once!

To save themselves, four Math prodigies are forced to solve a slew of math problems/riddles. Another reviewer mentioned the problems shift gradually from left(logic) to right (intuitive) brain function...Yes, that's right, but I didn't really get it during the film...and I am still in higher Math overload! Of course, when it comes to Math, I make Forrest Gump look like Stephen Hawkings!

FERMAT needed another 20 minutes for more character development and to re-work its pace so that viewers could better absorb more of what's going on without feeling so stressed and lost. I liked the name of the boat. Did you catch it?... Pythagaros! BARELY LIMPS in at 6******.....ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

"Fermat's room" ("La habitación de Fermat") is a Spanish thriller, in the spirit of some recent American blockbusters, where maths are supposed to play an important role. But do not expect anything close to "Numbers" in terms of scientific depth. Maths here are only an anecdote.

In fact, this movie is for everyone but mathematicians, who will probably find that the challenges the characters have to face are too trivial and the alleged screw turns of the plot are quite predictable.

The script and the direction are basically OK, but the acting is quite irregular. While Lluís Homar and Santi Millán (especially Santi Millán, who clearly steals the show) are rather convincing and solid, I do not buy Alejo Sauras and Elena Ballesteros as young math geniuses. Maybe it is not all their fault, as their characters are arguably more stereotypical than the other two.

In the end, an entertaining popcorn movie for a rainy fall evening... as long as you do not know enough maths.

Fermat's Room is a welcome Spanish thriller that takes the tried and true Saw/Cube formula and adds some actual intrigue and a little bit of wit to the proceedings. With a slow and steady build to an ending that ties everything up in a rather satisfying way, you'll be asking yourself "why can't most thrillers make this much sense?" Fermat's Room is not original but it puts an interesting and well-written spin on tired plot points and movie gimmicks. Directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena have a good sense of space and depth when it comes to shooting in the room itself and the tension and pacing will have you staring at the screen with anticipation. Do yourself a favor and check out Fermat's Room; it just might cleanse your palette of all the junk films floating out there lately.

This spanish movie start really good. The characters are clearly defined, and the mystery hooks you in really quickly. Despite its low budget, the single room trick works really well, as it quickly turns from a nice and cozy place to a death trap, and basically that's all you need.

Sadly, the resolution of the movie doesn't make much sense, and to be honest the whole plot is overly complicated, I'm not going to get into details in order to avoid spoilers. My main gripe is that the movie doesn't exploit the mathematicians enough, you barely know what the extent of their skills are and the riddles aren't all really... mathematics. Still, they get you on your toes, which it's what they're for, so they do the job.

It's a rather short movie so it's good for a quick and fun ride, check it out.

Unfortunately Fermat's Room adds nothing new to the idea of trapping a group of people in a single room and having them slowly piece together how they know one another. The general premise of course sounds interesting (at least to me) a shrinking room and four mathematicians must solve their way out. But the problem begins right there, they are only given one minute per question, which makes it damn near impossible for the audience to keep up. Not to mention when they begin to work out the problems on the chalkboard, the camera hardly ever puts it in frame, which would have been great for the audience to kind of sole the problem along with the characters.

But instead the movie shifts focus away from the riddles/enigmas and focuses on them trying to figure out who has put them there and why. This is where Fermat's Room becomes derivative and generic, this is very familiar territory for this type of movie and it is spun in an unengaging way. I personally would have enjoyed focuses more on the enigmas and trying to include the audience more (possibly by giving the characters more time to solve them).

And the unfortunate aspect of the movie is the Spanish subtitles, they were very fast moving which didn't help things (Just something that was unavoidable sadly). Like when the characters are dissecting the enigmas, the lines of dialogue moved too quickly to follow along with how they were solving the problem.

But when all is said and done, Fermat's Room is an interesting, little thriller that has just enough distinction from other films in the genre to make it worth mentioning.

Let me say in advance that, even it is a general audience movie it does the best with a bit of maths on the background, but still a very good movie indeed.

The strongest point are the top performances of Lluis Homar and Federico Luppi, finest actors very skilled in theaters and movies, supported by unexpectedly good beginners, Santi, Elena & Alejo, more trained in plain roles of teen comedies and late shows than in cinema, they do quite well and finally you understand why were they chosen for this film.

The plot is atracting from the very beginning, the most of time it goes on real-time action, with a countdown that will kill many of them if several mind games are not achieved. A new shape for a known theme, yes, but it works 100%.

And now the maths class: Every character is playing a role of a great mathematic and both players and characters were selected to fit into that role: Hilbert is an old mathematic devoted to the riddles, Pascal an engineer thinking only on the commercial application of any idea, Fermat an enigmatic person showing no more that what you want to see and Galois a young genoius but not used to think on advance. The life of those people plays a little on the movie. So now you can see what a good selection of players for this roles.

The mathematical riddles are explained easily and with no so much relationship with the main plot so they are not required to be understood to follow the film, but of course is a good point if you do it.

And finally, the Fermat's Last Theorem: It is already demonstrated so don't expect any surprise on this movie. But if you want, you can take a look to the Goldbach's Conjecture, maybe it helps.

Four mathematician's are invited to a home, to discuss ideas. Once there they soon discover that it's a trap, where they have to solve problems, while the walls slowly close in on them...

On paper, this film sounds like an intelligent version of Saw. And there are slight similarities, but it's a much cleverer film. The plot is well thought out, as it keeps you guessing on who is behind it all. The film is very well acted by the cast, and the writers and directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Soperia keep the tension through out. The set design of the single room is impressive as the clever use of camera angles to add to the building tension as the room gets smaller.

Despite being a film where they use a lot of problems so it relies on the brain more than brawn, the problems themselves aren't overly complicated, and are easy to understand.

If there is a slight let-down, I thought the ending isn't as clever as the rest of the film, but despite this I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it.

Prima facie, the premise of this Spanish thriller is very intriguing.

Four mathematicians, in a room that is gradually shrinking. This must be checked out, I said to myself.

Now, after having spent close to 2.5 hours trying to finish an 85 minute long mental ordeal, I am mentally exhausted and can come up with only platitudes.

Such as effing s*it. That's the quality of questions that are posed to these so called geniuses inside the room. I believe the members of this group would solve most of these puzzles in their sleep.

What I found hilarious was that with their lives on line and the time running out, people keep wasting time by telling stories to each other.

The end and the "reveal" are as terrible as the rest of the run time.

Can be safely recommended to people you want to put off films, for years.

It was a good idea for a movie.

The start was interesting and promising, but problems they were solving are either too easy, and you can find them everywhere, or they didn't explain how they get the result.

Also, there's a lack of interest from participants to solve problems, even when they figure it out that their lives depend from it. They spend more time, dealing with their personal problems, which were not good explain, and not seem so important for the story.

My rate is 7/10, just because I would be sorry to give 6/10 to idea like this. 1h29min was too short for a movie like this, and if they made material for half an hour more, maybe the story and interpretation would be much better, and my rate would go to 8/10 for sure.

Three distinguished Spanish mathematicians and one successful inventor receive anonymous letters requesting that they come together and solve a riddle. All respond positively to the invitation; upon reaching the meeting point by a rural lake, they follow clues to reach a curious isolated house. After an introductory dinner with the host, the four become locked in a room and are sent mathematical puzzles to solve via a mobile device.

It transpires that if they take too long to correctly provide answers, the room's walls start to close in (think Indiana Jones/Star Wars, but slower and stop-start). It swiftly becomes apparent that their lives are genuinely in danger, and that they have to cooperate to solve the real mystery - who wishes them harm?

This premise is compelling, and the first 40 minutes are rich and captivating. At the half-way point, sadly, much of the creative momentum is lost and an intelligent, highly original film becomes more akin to a run-of-the-mill mindless thriller. In the second half, the character back-stories we are presented with lack credibility and attempts at comedy are only partially successful.

It is, however, almost understandable that the film is unable to meet its ambitions by plausibly sustaining an unrelenting pace. A worthwhile viewing coloured by excitement and frustration in almost equal measure.

Invited to a conference in a remote part of Spain, four mathematicians discover that they have attended under false pretences as the walls around them begin to slowly close in unless they can solve a series of riddles. From such a plot description alone, 'Fermat's Room' sounds a lot like 'Cube' meets Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians' and it is certainly equally as atmospheric. The outskirts location and shrinking room are perfectly foreboding and the attention to sound is divine as the smallest noises of the room pressing together are enough to run a chill down the spine. The plot does not stack up well to close scrutiny with the antagonist's plan carried along by the characters doing a lot of things (especially regarding the jacket) that could have never possibly been predicted. It also seems bizarre that the quartet of mathematicians would all happily agree to attend a conference with an unknown host and specific instructions not to bring a mobile phone. If one simply accepts all the improbabilities and runs with it though, it is undeniably thrilling affair. Some surprise character revelations towards the end also add interesting layers of depth; in particular, it is fascinating how one character essentially brought the whole thing upon himself by never being honest in the first place. To say much more may ruin a fresh experience of the film, and this is a movie best entered into with as few expectations as possible. Suffice it to say, this is a much more worthwhile film with better characters than 'Saw', to which 'Fermat's Room' has been compared.

Considering Luis Piedrahita is a famous Spanish comedian, Rodrigo Peña is behind several TV shows and Santi Millan is to Humor what Aleister Crowley was to occultism : The wickedest man on earth, plus this is their first movie experience.. it takes a considerable amount of faith to buy a ticket for a movie like this.

Then they tell you about the subject of the movie: How could a movie with 4 mathematicians locked in a room could be interesting? But there was something really fresh about this gang that made me want to see it.. I guess I like crazy people! First of all.. All the characters are delightfully drawn, like the old "Airport" movies, you are given a background of each one of them until they meet for a curios party: An unknown person hosts a math competition, invitation only, no cellphones or escort allowed.

From that point on you feel like one of the characters discovering the story as it unfolds to them.. There is no way you can imagine what lays ahead and if that were not enough they'll keep you busy with riddles and math games.

Do not fear being abused with dense mathematical issues hardly understandable to anyone, this is for all audiences and will keep you tied to your seat until the end.

The plot was interesting but the tasks given to the group were to easy to solve for even ordinary people without high intellectual capacities.

The last review (in chronological view, from Matthew B) has already said pretty much what I was going to.

Suffice to say that this is a very generic and tame thriller - I doubt even maths buffs will get much out of it. The mysteries that are offered are revealed in a cheap copy of hitchcockian technique, and they were never interesting to begin with.

No thrills or tense moments, either...it's all played far too safely. The actors are OK, if a little bland. Camera work is too shaky, seems to be used just to conceal the lack of suspense...the whole package is uninspired.

Two good scenes: a seatbelt moment with birdseye view of its consequences, and the final scene which scans the surroundings to make sure the world is as it was. But these aren't enough to recommend the film.

I have to admit I wasn't exactly excited to watch Fermat's Room, and probably wouldn't have, had I not found it on a list of thriller and horror movies from another reviewer on this site who's taste is similar to mine. When I found out I could watch it for free with my shudder subscription I decided to go for it.

I think my hesitation stemmed from the fact that I'm starting to get bored with these types of 'mathematical' horror movies. Cube was great, and I liked some of the Saw movies alright (at least in terms of entertainment value), but the common premise that all these movies share gets kind of old after you've seen a few of them, and then it gets down right annoying after watching movies like 'Would You Rather' or 'The Room'.

That being said, 'Fermat's Room' was probably my favorite of the genre, well second to Cube perhaps, which I loved for it's campy dialogue.

My only complaint is that the ending seemed somewhat lame. After all the complicated riddles and 'enigma's' that the characters solved, the most important one seemed so completely obvious that I felt that if I, a mathematical moron, had been stuck in that room, could have figured out as well.

That being said, it's a good thriller, and despite the trite ending, there were a lot of clever little twists and nuances that make it a fun and intelligent film.