The Box review: Lorenzo Vigas’ psychological thriller is a masterclass in restrained filmmaking

Hatzín Navarrete makes an impressive debut in The Box, streaming on MUBI India

Hatzín Navarrete in a still from the film

The Box

STORY: An adolescent boy travels from Mexico City to retrieve the remains of his father at a mass grave in Northern Mexico. But as fate would have it, he comes across a man who looks just like his dad, and he decides to follow him.

REVIEW: Venezuelan director-screenwriter Lorenzo Vigas’ The Box (La Caja) is perplexing and unnerving in equal measure. The story begins with a rather reticent teenager, Hatzín (debutant Hatzín Navarrete) from Mexico City, who is on his way on a bus to northern Mexico to collect the remains of his father Esteban Espinoza Leyva. Although Hatzín had barely spent time with his father when he was alive, the boy was aware that his dad was a migrant worker who died in an industrial accident. He is silently coping with grief and loss, as you can see that in his deep melancholic eyes. 

After he arrived at the communal grave, an official checked a few documents and unceremoniously handed over a tin box to him, about all of which he kept updating his grandmother over the phone. On the way back home, he suddenly saw a man on a pavement who strikingly resembled his late father. In no time, Hatzín got off the bus and followed this man, who on confrontation identified himself as Mario Enderle (Hernán Mendoza). Despite repeated resistance, the boy insists on finding out if this stranger he has just met has anything to do with his father. Eventually, Mario takes the boy under his wings. Like this man, Hatzín is now engaged in bringing truckloads of migrant workers to slog for long hours under brutal conditions in the local garment manufacturing units. He stays with Mario and his pregnant wife and another boy in their house. 

Amid a subdued setting and a mystery of mistaken identity, there’s a strong commentary on postcolonial capitalism, as the potential labourers are being repeatedly told about how the ‘Chinese are the real enemies’. Their nimble hands can function way faster than those of the local people, meaning the foreigners will in due course eat into the employment of the indigenous folks. Hence, the Mexicans and Latin Americans must compete to avoid being pushed into poverty.

A thoughtful Hatzín is silently witnessing all of it, and he tries to comprehend the correlation between this narrative and the exploitation of migrant workers in these garment factories. But the occasional silencing of revolting voices is what startles him the most, as he cannot help but equate that with the death of his own father.

This 92-minute Spanish drama, which was also Venezuela’s entry to the Oscars, is a compelling take on the plight of migrant workers in Mexico. In an unsettlingly cryptic thriller, Lorenzo portrays the human cost when lives become disposable. In other words, this movie is a masterclass on restrained filmmaking. 

VERDICT: Newcomer Hatzín outshines a seasoned cast in this matured mystery-crime drama. Without even cracking a smile, he delivers an incredible performance, making The Box a must watch. His restraint and resilience is complemented by Mario, who is spearheading a dirty business to secure his own future. An unsettling story of doubt and hope, the film unambiguously depicts the predicament of migrant workers around the world, and the tragic impact of missing parents on their children. 

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