Box: Metaphor (2023) Movie Script
1
Australia 2053.
Since the last war,
the crime rate
has risen over 800%
causing a crushing influx
on the prison system.
The government,
not knowing what to do,
did what governments do best.
They created
the Box Rehabilitation Program.
A system
that at any other time
would have been
considered inhumane.
They gave
the prisoners a choice.
To live out their sentence
isolated in their box,
stripped of their citizenship.
Alternatively,
they can volunteer themselves
for instant extermination.
Once in the box,
food and water
will be supplied to them
at the discretion
of the citizens,
the very citizens
they chose to betray.
Anyone caught trying to escape
or aiding in any attempts
will be dealt with harshly
by way of extermination.
They are
where they choose to be.
Oh, let me out.
Let me out.
P-p-p prisoner 371113,
you have been tried
and found guilty
by a jury of your peers.
You have been sentenced
to seven years rehabilitation,
without the possibility
of parole.
Food and water
will be supplied to you
at the discretion
of the citizens,
the very citizens
you chose to betray.
Upon successfully completing
your rehabilitation...
you will be allowed
to return to the city
and to be reinstated
as a citizen.
No.
You are where you choose to be.
No, please.
I'm innocent!
No!
No!
No. No, I--
No.
No.
No.
No! No!
No!
Please, I'm innocent.
No!
Are you alive in there?
Warning, warning, warning,
warning, warning,
warning, warning.
Extermination is imminent.
This is your final warning.
Extermination in t-minus
10, nine, eight...
...seven...
...six, five...
...four, three.
Two, two, two, two, two, two.
Two, two, two,
two, two...
...two, two.
One.
Prisoner?
Prisoner?
You're new. No?
How long?
Seven years.
Seven years.
You must be political.
Water?
Live or die is at the will
of the citizens.
No?
We, the citizens,
will decide your fate
as we always have.
And always will.
You are not the first...
nor will you be the last
I'm innocent.
We will decide your future.
Why? Why? Why?
Why?
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
Hello?
What do you do?
I do what I have been
sentenced to do.
Which is?
Rehabilitation.
Sounds like fun.
Then I must have not
described it accurately.
I've been reading Shakespeare.
Have you heard of him?
No.
My mother used to read his works
before they were
put on the list,
along with the others.
Can you read?
Yes, but I'm not permitted to
during my rehabilitation.
Well, how is it considered
rehabilitation then?
I guess there's a method
to this madness.
Come closer.
Come, come.
Come closer.
"These violent delights...
have violent ends
and in their triumphs, die.
Powder and fire
as they kiss consume."
Beautiful.
It's from Romeo and Juliet.
I hope to read it one day.
It's too good not to share.
No, please. No, I can't.
It's against regulations.
Who will know?
It's getting late.
Maybe I can see you again?
I can read to you.
I would like that, very much.
Until then.
"I will kiss thy lips,
haply some poison.
Yet doth hang on them
to make me die
with a restorative."
What did you do?
How do you decide who to feed?
Normally I walk around
talking to as many of you
as I can.
But given the weather,
I may have to cut it short.
How old are you?
Sixteen.
I'm a citizen.
Are you okay?
I had a sister your age.
You remind me of her.
She, too, was a citizen.
Had?
"So, Romeo,
what were he not Romeo called
retain that dear perfection,
which he owns without the title.
Romeo doth thy name
and for that name,
which is not part of thee."
Show mercy.
Mercy? For you?
Please, citizen.
I can't remember the last time
I have tasted an apple.
Does your
rehabilitation require you
to have the taste
of an apple in your mouth?
I'm incredibly hungry.
That's not what I asked.
I asked,
does your rehabilitation
require you to eat apples?
I beg you.
Yes, you already said that.
I will show you no mercy,
to you
or any other of these animals
in their boxes.
If it were up to me,
there would be
no rehabilitation.
Only extermination.
What they should have done
was drop you out there.
I will show you no mercy,
but...
I may be willing to trade.
Trading
is against the law.
-It is punishable by--
-Do you want the apple?
How badly do you want the apple?
Divino.
These apples are just...
delicious.
Prisoner 371113.
You are in violation
of code 87173,
trading for food.
This is in breach of
your rehabilitation condition.
Your punishment
will incur a penalty.
Insomnia.
Seven days.
This will be
your first and final warning
as your next breach
will be dealt with
by way of extermination.
You are where you choose to be.
Why?
Prisoner 371113
as you have suffered and
endured
a wrongful conviction
and unlawful imprisonment,
the citizens
have granted you absolution
and order
you be instantly released.
I recognize you...
but I don't know who you are...
...or what you think
you are doing?
Wow.
You really let yourself go.
I must admit
I did not see this coming.
What the hell are you doing?
The world is like a ride
in an amusement park...
and when
you choose to go on it...
What the hell are you doing?
...you think it's real.
Because that's how powerful
our minds are.
The ride goes up...
and down.
Around and around.
It has thrills...
and chills.
And it's very
brightly colored...
and it's very loud.
And it's fun for a while.
Many people have been
on the ride...
for a very long time.
And they begin to wonder...
is this real...
or is it just a ride?
Just a ride.
Just a ride.
Just a ride.
Your social
punishment has been completed.
You may now continue
with your rehabilitation.
You are where you choose to be.
In celebration
of welcoming the New Year,
a general amnesty
has been granted
to all incarcerated.
All excluding
political prisoners.
There was a time...
where I, too,
was in your position.
Fifteen years.
For fifteen years,
my rehabilitation shaped me
into the person I am today.
I hate the person I am today.
Let me guess.
You love what I have done
with the place.
Sleep talking again?
You're real?
You risked a great deal...
doing what you did.
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong
your hand too much.
Which mannerly devotion
shows in this.
For saints have hands
that pilgrims' hands do touch.
And palm for palms,
holy palmers kiss."
"Have not saint's lips...
and holy palmers too?"
You've been a naughty girl.
After all...
how can this be rehabilitation?
Now I must leave.
Bye.
Are you alive
in there?
In the box.
Are you alive?
What are you
doing out there?
We want to save you.
We can liberate you...
to live out
your sentence in our care.
Safe,
and without the restrictions
imposed on you
by the state.
Prisoner 371113,
interference has been detected.
This is in violation of
your rehabilitation conditions.
and if not rectified,
you will be exterminated.
With child?
How much of
your rehabilitation time
is remaining?
Four years.
Quite a lengthy stay.
Quite the lengthy stay, indeed.
If I choose to show you mercy...
would you have the capacity
to recognize it?
Look.
Over there.
That there is mercy.
A quick death...
is all you should ask for.
Warning, warning.
Warning, warning, warning.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning.
We have detected
an unauthorized soul
at your ground zero.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning, warning.
Prisoner 371113.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning.
This is in direct violation
of your rehabilitation
conditions
and must be terminated
immediately.
My baby.
My baby!
Give me back
my baby!
You fuckers!
Where's my baby?
Give me back
my fucking baby!
Give her back.
Give her back!
Give her back!
Give me my baby.
I want her back.
I really want her back.
Love
is heavy and light...
bright and dark.
Hot and cold...
sick and healthy.
Asleep and awake.
It's everything
except what it is.
Prisoner 371113,
an interference
has been detected.
This is in violation with
your rehabilitation conditions
and if not rectified,
you will be exterminated.
Warning, warning,
extermination is imminent.
This is your final warning.
Extermination in T minus ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Australia 2053.
Since the last war,
the crime rate
has risen over 800%
causing a crushing influx
on the prison system.
The government,
not knowing what to do,
did what governments do best.
They created
the Box Rehabilitation Program.
A system
that at any other time
would have been
considered inhumane.
They gave
the prisoners a choice.
To live out their sentence
isolated in their box,
stripped of their citizenship.
Alternatively,
they can volunteer themselves
for instant extermination.
Once in the box,
food and water
will be supplied to them
at the discretion
of the citizens,
the very citizens
they chose to betray.
Anyone caught trying to escape
or aiding in any attempts
will be dealt with harshly
by way of extermination.
They are
where they choose to be.
Oh, let me out.
Let me out.
P-p-p prisoner 371113,
you have been tried
and found guilty
by a jury of your peers.
You have been sentenced
to seven years rehabilitation,
without the possibility
of parole.
Food and water
will be supplied to you
at the discretion
of the citizens,
the very citizens
you chose to betray.
Upon successfully completing
your rehabilitation...
you will be allowed
to return to the city
and to be reinstated
as a citizen.
No.
You are where you choose to be.
No, please.
I'm innocent!
No!
No!
No. No, I--
No.
No.
No.
No! No!
No!
Please, I'm innocent.
No!
Are you alive in there?
Warning, warning, warning,
warning, warning,
warning, warning.
Extermination is imminent.
This is your final warning.
Extermination in t-minus
10, nine, eight...
...seven...
...six, five...
...four, three.
Two, two, two, two, two, two.
Two, two, two,
two, two...
...two, two.
One.
Prisoner?
Prisoner?
You're new. No?
How long?
Seven years.
Seven years.
You must be political.
Water?
Live or die is at the will
of the citizens.
No?
We, the citizens,
will decide your fate
as we always have.
And always will.
You are not the first...
nor will you be the last
I'm innocent.
We will decide your future.
Why? Why? Why?
Why?
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
I am where I choose to be.
Hello?
What do you do?
I do what I have been
sentenced to do.
Which is?
Rehabilitation.
Sounds like fun.
Then I must have not
described it accurately.
I've been reading Shakespeare.
Have you heard of him?
No.
My mother used to read his works
before they were
put on the list,
along with the others.
Can you read?
Yes, but I'm not permitted to
during my rehabilitation.
Well, how is it considered
rehabilitation then?
I guess there's a method
to this madness.
Come closer.
Come, come.
Come closer.
"These violent delights...
have violent ends
and in their triumphs, die.
Powder and fire
as they kiss consume."
Beautiful.
It's from Romeo and Juliet.
I hope to read it one day.
It's too good not to share.
No, please. No, I can't.
It's against regulations.
Who will know?
It's getting late.
Maybe I can see you again?
I can read to you.
I would like that, very much.
Until then.
"I will kiss thy lips,
haply some poison.
Yet doth hang on them
to make me die
with a restorative."
What did you do?
How do you decide who to feed?
Normally I walk around
talking to as many of you
as I can.
But given the weather,
I may have to cut it short.
How old are you?
Sixteen.
I'm a citizen.
Are you okay?
I had a sister your age.
You remind me of her.
She, too, was a citizen.
Had?
"So, Romeo,
what were he not Romeo called
retain that dear perfection,
which he owns without the title.
Romeo doth thy name
and for that name,
which is not part of thee."
Show mercy.
Mercy? For you?
Please, citizen.
I can't remember the last time
I have tasted an apple.
Does your
rehabilitation require you
to have the taste
of an apple in your mouth?
I'm incredibly hungry.
That's not what I asked.
I asked,
does your rehabilitation
require you to eat apples?
I beg you.
Yes, you already said that.
I will show you no mercy,
to you
or any other of these animals
in their boxes.
If it were up to me,
there would be
no rehabilitation.
Only extermination.
What they should have done
was drop you out there.
I will show you no mercy,
but...
I may be willing to trade.
Trading
is against the law.
-It is punishable by--
-Do you want the apple?
How badly do you want the apple?
Divino.
These apples are just...
delicious.
Prisoner 371113.
You are in violation
of code 87173,
trading for food.
This is in breach of
your rehabilitation condition.
Your punishment
will incur a penalty.
Insomnia.
Seven days.
This will be
your first and final warning
as your next breach
will be dealt with
by way of extermination.
You are where you choose to be.
Why?
Prisoner 371113
as you have suffered and
endured
a wrongful conviction
and unlawful imprisonment,
the citizens
have granted you absolution
and order
you be instantly released.
I recognize you...
but I don't know who you are...
...or what you think
you are doing?
Wow.
You really let yourself go.
I must admit
I did not see this coming.
What the hell are you doing?
The world is like a ride
in an amusement park...
and when
you choose to go on it...
What the hell are you doing?
...you think it's real.
Because that's how powerful
our minds are.
The ride goes up...
and down.
Around and around.
It has thrills...
and chills.
And it's very
brightly colored...
and it's very loud.
And it's fun for a while.
Many people have been
on the ride...
for a very long time.
And they begin to wonder...
is this real...
or is it just a ride?
Just a ride.
Just a ride.
Just a ride.
Your social
punishment has been completed.
You may now continue
with your rehabilitation.
You are where you choose to be.
In celebration
of welcoming the New Year,
a general amnesty
has been granted
to all incarcerated.
All excluding
political prisoners.
There was a time...
where I, too,
was in your position.
Fifteen years.
For fifteen years,
my rehabilitation shaped me
into the person I am today.
I hate the person I am today.
Let me guess.
You love what I have done
with the place.
Sleep talking again?
You're real?
You risked a great deal...
doing what you did.
"Good pilgrim, you do wrong
your hand too much.
Which mannerly devotion
shows in this.
For saints have hands
that pilgrims' hands do touch.
And palm for palms,
holy palmers kiss."
"Have not saint's lips...
and holy palmers too?"
You've been a naughty girl.
After all...
how can this be rehabilitation?
Now I must leave.
Bye.
Are you alive
in there?
In the box.
Are you alive?
What are you
doing out there?
We want to save you.
We can liberate you...
to live out
your sentence in our care.
Safe,
and without the restrictions
imposed on you
by the state.
Prisoner 371113,
interference has been detected.
This is in violation of
your rehabilitation conditions.
and if not rectified,
you will be exterminated.
With child?
How much of
your rehabilitation time
is remaining?
Four years.
Quite a lengthy stay.
Quite the lengthy stay, indeed.
If I choose to show you mercy...
would you have the capacity
to recognize it?
Look.
Over there.
That there is mercy.
A quick death...
is all you should ask for.
Warning, warning.
Warning, warning, warning.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning.
We have detected
an unauthorized soul
at your ground zero.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning, warning.
Prisoner 371113.
Warning, warning,
warning, warning.
This is in direct violation
of your rehabilitation
conditions
and must be terminated
immediately.
My baby.
My baby!
Give me back
my baby!
You fuckers!
Where's my baby?
Give me back
my fucking baby!
Give her back.
Give her back!
Give her back!
Give me my baby.
I want her back.
I really want her back.
Love
is heavy and light...
bright and dark.
Hot and cold...
sick and healthy.
Asleep and awake.
It's everything
except what it is.
Prisoner 371113,
an interference
has been detected.
This is in violation with
your rehabilitation conditions
and if not rectified,
you will be exterminated.
Warning, warning,
extermination is imminent.
This is your final warning.
Extermination in T minus ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.