Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.
Direction
Kelly's obsessive 1970s period detail and cosmic dread
Acting
Frank Langella's disfigured, otherworldly presence
Score
Win Butler and Owen Pallett's haunting Arcade Fire-adjacent sound
Director
Richard Kelly
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Richard Matheson's 1970 short story 'Button, Button,' which had a nastier ending the film deliberately rejects.
Kelly set it in 1976 Virginia to explore his own NASA-employee father's era, making the sci-fi elements deeply personal.
US
