Buried ☆☆☆☆

It has been a little over five minutes since Buried ended and I still feel sick. A film hasn't traumatised me so much in years. In fact I believe this is the worst I have ever felt after seeing a film.

This was, don't get me wrong, a fantastic piece of filmmaking. It is also a great showcase for the talent of Ryan Reynolds, whose career I have followed avidly since Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza place was continously repeated on the long forsaken channel Trouble. He is mesmerising, which is good because you see one other person in the entire 90 minutes and that is for a few seconds.

The concept for this film is Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working in Iraq, has been taken hostage and buried alive. He has on him a phone, lighter, canteen of alcohol, and an empty wallet.

From the beginning you are involved in Paul's experience, I watched this alone in a dark room and I think it affected me more because I was focussed on the screen entirely. My frustration was building as Paul's was, that he could not contact his family, that the people he made contact with were seemingly unhelpful and putting him on hold.

There are breakthroughs as he makes contact with the outside world, but also awful reminders of the evil that is out there who aren't holding you hostage. Corporations are not given any kind of decent lighting. Frankly it made me feel sick at times.

I know and agree with the policy not to negotiate with terrorists, it makes sense to me in the coldest of my blood that once one person is paid for you cannot help but pay for the rest, and many innocent people have died because of one groups desperation and the others firm stance on the subject. You should know then that there are only two outcomes for Paul in this film, one where he lives and one where he dies. I will not spoil the end, it is a traumatic concept whatever the outcome.

The way the film is shot is so unique, one man in a box, no cuts to his memories of life outside the box, just a man and his phone. Ryan Reynolds as I said before is brilliant, you absolutely believe he is trapped here, frightened and alone, doing the best he can to get out. The film is so cruel, as life in these situations often is, and there is one moment of gore that I could not look at. There was a particular few minutes that I was so scared I'm not sure I breathed properly, and that is owing to a certain phobia of mine crossed with the mild claustrophobia I sometimes experience.

The film is definitely a piece of genius, I have never experienced anything like it, nor do I want to ever again. It has left me overwhelmed and wanting a chick flick really badly. Luckily Ryan Reynolds has a whole back catalogue of those, along with two other serious films that should be seen, The Nines and Chaos Theory.

I'm off to see if Netflix has The Proposal.