Movie Substrate · Film

Cube Zero (2004)

★ 5.7 · 1,142 ratings on TMDB

There must be an exit!

Cube Zero poster★ 5.7

A young programmer whose job is to watch over the reality-warping Cube defies orders to rescue an innocent mother trapped in one of its rooms.

DirectorErnie Barbarash
CastDavid Huband, Joshua Peace, Martin Roach, Michael Riley, Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang, Richard McMillan
GenresMystery, Science Fiction, Thriller
The emergence reading

Cube Zero keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E8/E11 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing survival, surveillance, control, experiment, authority.

zero-distanceCAsurvivalsurveillancecontrolexperimentauthority
⇄ Parameter shift — the dial this world turnsrigor: loose
E10lawa secret law mandates that convicted individuals are sentenced to a lethal, surveilled maze experiment (the Cube) (social · local)
Also inFilms about controlFilms about survivalFilms that alter a rule of reality
Explore Movie Substrate → Where to watch ↗ TMDB ↗ Rotten Tomatoes ↗ Ask about this film → Reading look wrong? → Copy link

Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)E8/E11 · authority, controlUniversal Soldier: The Return (1999)E8/E11 · authority, controlHypnotic (2023)E8/E11 · authority, controlDon't Worry Darling (2022)E8/E11 · authority, controlFirestarter (2022)E8/E11 · authority, controlMinority Report (2002)E8 · authority, control

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

Seoul Station (2016)E4/E9/E10 · rare rung · authority, survivalPriest (2011)E6/E9/E10 · rare rung · authority, survivalThe Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)E9/E14 · rare rung · authority, survivalWarGames (1983)E12/E14 · rare rung · authority, controlOoops! Noah Is Gone... (2015)E6/E9 · rare rung · authority, survivalEscape from L.A. (1996)E9/E12 · rare rung · authority, surveillance

Also bends a rule of reality

Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.

Battle Royale (2000)alters at E10 · same rung · rigorousEagle Eye (2008)alters at E10 · same rung · looseBigbug (2022)alters at E10 · same rung · looseThe Truman Show (1998)alters at E10 · same rung · rigorousDeadpool & Wolverine (2024)alters at E10 · same rung · looseI, Robot (2004)alters at E10 · same rung · loose

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Falcon Rising (2014)dir. Ernie BarbarashAssassination Games (2011)dir. Ernie Barbarash6 Bullets (2012)dir. Ernie BarbarashEnemy (2014)Joshua PeaceDevil (2010)Joshua PeaceShoot 'Em Up (2007)Tony Munch