In 2009, a dystopian sci-fi short called What's In The Box? went viral.
It featured a future world traumatized and depleted by the energy crisis; the film's hero—Will Porter, a scientist—figured out how to harness a parallel universe and suck in its resources to power our own. He is then hunted down by dark and dastardly corporate machinations threatening to blow it all to hell.
The film was released somewhat stealthily, so many assumed it was a teaser for Halo due to its theme and edgy, first-person-shooter POV. In fact, the director was Tim Smit, who had recently completed his studies in Natural Sciences in the Netherlands, and was finding work as a visual effects supervisor on films like Last Passenger. As he told a Dutch TV show back in 2009, Smit completed What's In the Box? for less than $200 and did all the VFX himself.
In a twist that so rarely happens—until, you know, when it actually does—Hollywood tracked down Smit, gave him a budget, a proper British star (Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame—or High Maintenance, depending on viewing habits at your house) and asked him to turn his short into a full-length feature. Kill Switch is out in select theaters and on-demand via Amazon Video on June 16.
So, when the studio contacted PCMag to cover the movie's opening weekend, I went through the usual Hollywood Publicity Machine machinations. There was an early morning call scheduled with Smit, who was supposed to be waiting by his phone in the Netherlands. Alas, there was a "problem with the servers" connecting our transatlantic call. It never transpired what went wrong; perhaps Smit was just overwhelmed by the dog-and-pony show required of directors to sell their films, or maybe he's publicity-shy.
Emails flew back and forth for days. I was promised responses to our questions, which were really rather good, we thought modestly. Not the usual "Are you keen on Kubrick?" but actual geek-focused lines of inquiry, like the plausibility of the portal in the film that opens up a bio-replicated universe. I was also interested to hear about the hardware/software setup he'd used to create the original short.
Still silence from Europe.
I had wanted to ask about the FPS-style POV, which delivers augmented reality visual effects from Porter's wearables, providing him with diagnostic health monitors, drag and drop from TV screens to in-helmet video viewing, GPS mapping aids, and incoming call alerts.
This POV is used throughout the short—but only in sections, to heighten the action and tension. Did the studio push back on this at all? The Hollywood suits usually like to see the star they've paid for up there on the screen. Sadly, nothing in my email inbox from the Netherlands when I woke up in LA this morning, deadline looming.
So, here's our take. It's worth seeing. Not great, but interesting.
Stevens is convincing as Will Porter; in the feature-length version, he's a former US Air Force pilot who joins NASA before taking the big paycheck and working for The Man as a corporate (not so) clean energy specialist. His race through an imploding planet to get a Redivider box to a tower and save humanity is, in fact, quite thrilling. We'll just have to use our imaginations regarding all the behind-the-scenes machinations.