--- title: "Cube" year: 1998 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/cube" fi1m_id: "cube" imdb_id: "tt0123755" tmdb_id: 431 wikidata_id: "Q467840" fi1m_score: 76 critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-13" updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:43.220623+00:00" region: "EE" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Cube (1998) Directed by Vincenzo Natali · 1h 30m · Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery ## Identity Cube - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/cube - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** cube - **IMDb ID:** tt0123755 - **TMDB ID:** 431 - **Wikidata ID:** Q467840 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/431, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q467840 **Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 68 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* The maths is difficult, the rooms are lethal, and nobody is improving the group atmosphere > Vincenzo Natali makes a maze of lethal rooms into a tense, resourceful thriller. The puzzles hold our attention even when the characters become tiresome, though the arguments sometimes last longer than their interest warrants. ## Synopsis Strangers find themselves trapped in a maze of cubic rooms, with no clear route out and lethal traps waiting in some of the spaces ahead. Leaven (Nicole De Boer), Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint) and Worth (David Hewlett) are among those trying to understand the place and decide whom they can trust. Moving from room to room brings mathematical puzzles as well as physical danger. With the group dependent on cooperation, fear and suspicion complicate each decision about where to go, who should lead and what might offer a way out. ## Review Vincenzo Natali’s *Cube* is a good, tense science-fiction thriller with a better predicament than characters. Strangers are trapped in a maze of cubic rooms, some of them rigged to kill, and cooperation seems the sensible way out. Sensible behaviour is in short supply once fear and self-interest take charge. Natali gets considerable suspense from watching people try to solve a problem together while becoming less willing to listen to one another. Jasna Stefanovic’s production design makes a single set sustain the illusion of a maze, and the repetition becomes increasingly disagreeable. Recognising the shape of the next room offers little reassurance when stepping inside may be lethal. Derek Rogers’s cinematography makes those confined spaces oppressive enough that searching them for a way forward becomes absorbing in itself. The visual ingenuity serves the suspense, keeping the basic predicament clear even when the workings of the place are difficult to understand. We were properly tense at the prospect of the group entering another booby-trapped room. Having to judge a space before stepping into it is a simple fear, and Natali makes good use of it. John Sanders’s editing is at its most effective when it gives that uncertainty time to become uncomfortable, rather than hurrying towards the next danger. Mark Korven’s score adds to the unease, although the rooms and the people already provide enough reasons to worry. The ensemble is more useful than uniformly persuasive. Nicole De Boer, Nicky Guadagni, Maurice Dean Wint and David Hewlett have to keep distinct personalities visible while the puzzle keeps demanding attention. The acting sometimes goes too broad, as though being trapped required everyone to underline the fact. Yet the shifting loyalties keep the exchanges alive, and the need to rely on someone whose judgement looks doubtful supplies a different sort of suspense from the traps. The screenplay by Graeme Manson, André Bijelic and Natali is less convincing when it starts making its people illustrate ideas. Selfishness under pressure is credible; repeated demonstrations of it grow wearying when the characters have so little else to offer. At those points we can feel the film arranging another dispute rather than discovering anything further about the group. The running time is only 90 minutes, but some of these exchanges still make the journey feel longer than it needs to. The mathematical puzzles give the characters something to do that needs thought, and thinking takes time they may not have. This is where Natali gets beyond the simplest version of a survival thriller, in which danger merely cues the next burst of movement. His group has to interpret its surroundings and negotiate with one another, so suspense can build without a chase. The broad social lessons are less interesting than the practical business of deciding what to try next. We recommend *Cube* to anyone who enjoys working through a predicament alongside the people caught in it. A tolerance for arguments between thinly drawn characters will help. Do not expect every discussion to be as absorbing as the problem that prompted it. Watch it with someone whose judgement you ordinarily trust. *Fi1m score 76, published 13 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like Cube, and they like it for the same reason: a great deal is done with almost nothing. The reviews keep returning to the single set, the strangers waking in a lethal maze of booby-trapped rooms, and the way Natali builds tension from puzzles and mistrust rather than action. Several praise the ensemble for holding the screen on what amounts to a bare stage, and most find the allegory about trust, betrayal and the cost of doing nothing absorbing rather than laboured. The reservations are consistent even among admirers. The acting is called variable, the characters thin or overly broad, and more than one critic notes stretches where the film stalls or the allegory turns simplistic. The spread is narrow otherwise. The lone dissent comes from Slant Magazine, which grants the clever situation and a few decent scares but finds the film boxed in by its own premise, with no satisfying explanation or deeper payoff. ## Straight answers **Is Cube worth watching?** *Cube* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys puzzling through a lethal predicament alongside the people caught in it, and we scored it 76. Vincenzo Natali gets real suspense from a maze of booby-trapped rooms and the arguments over how to get out. The characters are thinner than the problem, and some disputes outlast their interest. **How long is Cube, and what is it rated?** *Cube* runs 1h 30m. It is a thriller and science fiction film. **Where can I watch Cube in Estonia?** *Cube* is not on any streaming or rental service in Estonia at the moment. It is available in 29 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Cube, and is it suitable for children?** *Cube* carries a 15 certificate in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not suitable for children. Some of the cubic rooms are rigged to kill, and the film's tension comes from watching people judge a space before stepping into it. Teenagers who can take sustained dread and lethal traps will manage; the squeamish should be warned. **How does Cube compare to Dark City?** *Cube* and [*Dark City*](https://film.one/film/dark-city) are both thrillers set in unsettling constructed worlds whose inhabitants have good reason to distrust them. *Cube* is the tighter and more claustrophobic of the two, built around one repeating set and a group solving puzzles under threat, while *Dark City* offers a larger invented city and a slower mystery. Neither gives its people much depth; choose *Cube* for suspense, *Dark City* for atmosphere. **What should I watch after Cube?** After *Cube*, try [*The Exterminating Angel*](https://film.one/film/the-exterminating-angel) (1962, Fi1m 87): Another trapped group discovers how quickly good manners become useless under pressure. Then [*Exam*](https://film.one/film/exam) (2009, Fi1m 57): A single room and competing candidates make another productive exercise in suspicion; and [*Dark City*](https://film.one/film/dark-city) (1998, Fi1m 76): Another unsettling constructed world whose inhabitants have good reason to distrust it. ### Reviews we read (8) - **Time Out**, NF (80/100, inferred): The critic praises this micro-budget sci-fi for its conceptual ideas and narrative tension over action sequences. It highlights the focus on the trapped characters' selfish behavior as the true threat, along with absorbing puzzles, allegory and suspense that offset variable acting. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/cube) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (70/100, inferred): The review commends the film's clever low-budget execution of a group navigating a deadly cubic maze, focusing on character dynamics, puzzles, and tension without over-explaining the setup. It contrasts it favorably with bigger-budget sci-fi and notes its effective use of a single set and ensemble cast. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cube-2-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kevin Thomas (70/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a highly ambitious cerebral sci-fi thriller and veritable nightmare that gradually pulls viewers into its claustrophobic spell and becomes acutely suspenseful. It singles out Natali as a visionary new talent while noting tedious stretches with less-than-riveting characters. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-11-ca-21465-story.html) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (70/100, inferred): Natali creates a complex piece around a simple foundation, keeping things interesting by concealing as much as revealing while turning viewer loyalties and maintaining ambiguity. The film remains provocative despite occasional stalls into simplistic allegory and overly broad characterizations. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/cube-1798197429) - **The Independent**, Liese Spencer (70/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film's visually inventive premise of strangers trapped in a lethal, Rubik's Cube-like maze of booby-trapped rooms while navigating interpersonal conflicts. It praises the director's ability to blend abstract mathematical ideas with a tense human story in this low-budget sci-fi horror. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival-98-when-all-the-parts-add-up-1172470.html) - **The New York Times**, Anita Gates (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film surprisingly gripping in the best Twilight Zone tradition, with an outstanding ensemble cast performing on a bare stage and real understated tension. It singles out the allegory about futility, the necessity and betrayal of trust, and humans without the luxury of inaction. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/11/movies/film-review-no-maps-compasses-or-faith.html) - **Slant Magazine** (40/100, inferred): The critic finds Natali’s cult favorite boxed in by its intriguing central premise, delivering an initially chilling Twilight Zone mood that gives way to paranoia among thin, threadbare characters. The film excels at creating a clever situation and a few decent scares but fails to provide a satisfying explanation or deeper payoff. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/cube/) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a superb example of innovative low-budget filmmaking. They highlight the tight plotting that reveals character through tense situations and note its thought-provoking ideas about perception and the bigger picture. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/cube-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Details - **Director:** Vincenzo Natali - **Director:** Vincenzo Natali - **Screenplay:** André Bijelic, Vincenzo Natali, Graeme Manson - **Cinematography:** Derek Rogers - **Editor:** John Sanders - **Music:** Mark Korven - **Production design:** Jasna Stefanovic - **Costume design:** Wendy May Moore - **Producer:** Mehra Meh, Betty Orr - **Cast:** Nicole De Boer as Leaven; Nicky Guadagni as Holloway; Maurice Dean Wint as Quentin; David Hewlett as Worth; Andrew Miller as Kazan; Wayne Robson as Rennes; Julian Richings as Alderson - **Runtime:** 1h 30m - **First release (Canada):** 9 September 1997 - **Genres:** Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery - **Budget:** $257,899 - **Box office:** $9 million ## Where to watch in Estonia Not streaming, renting or buying in Estonia at the last check. Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CL, CO, CZ, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, MX, NL, NZ, PA, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-Length Film award 1998: Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-Length Film award (won) ## If you liked this - *The Exterminating Angel* (1962), Fi1m 87: Another trapped group discovers how quickly good manners become useless under pressure. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-exterminating-angel.md) - *Exam* (2009), Fi1m 57: A single room and competing candidates make another productive exercise in suspicion. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/exam.md) - *The Platform* (2019): A harsher confinement thriller that makes social inequality part of the machinery. - *Dark City* (1998), Fi1m 76: Another unsettling constructed world whose inhabitants have good reason to distrust it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dark-city.md) - *The Twilight Zone* (1959), Fi1m 84: Short, uneasy puzzles for those who prefer their explanations less than reassuring. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-twilight-zone.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/cube