Ryan Reynolds, ‘People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive,’ stars in Rodrigo Cortes’ BURIED, proving that it’s possible to think outside the box- without ever leaving it. The extraordinary thriller stars Reynolds in his most challenging role to date. 

When it comes to horror movies, blood is often considered to be the fear-factor litmus test and terror is usually synonymous with gore. Such is not always the case, as exemplified in director Rodrigo Cortes’ film BURIED. After the main character, played by Ryan Reynolds, wakes up to discover that he has been kidnapped and buried alive, the audience accompanies him through an intense, compelling struggle for survival.  From the first scene where we meet Paul Conroy, the sole character appearing onscreen throughout the film, the panic and claustrophobia are tangible. The first ten minutes of the film are wrought with screams, heavy breathing, and pure desperation as he comes to terms with what has happened to him.

Reynolds does an outstanding job of conveying just how dire his character’s situation is; although the camera angles and lighting are key in creating atmosphere, it would be difficult to watch a 90-minute film that is set entirely inside a coffin if the sole actor’s performance wasn’t plausible. As the plot unravels, Conroy uses the lighter and cell phone that he has been buried with to discover who his captors are. With oxygen running out and his cell phone battery dwindling, trying to contact someone from the outside world who can help becomes a race against time.            

The idea of a character in a film being buried alive is nothing new; what makes “Buried” unique is not only that the character six feet under is the main protagonist, but that Rodrigo Cortes’ goal was to create a physical experience that would leave viewers gripping the edge of their seats. Cortes’ decision to create a cinematic “one man show” was both innovative and bold, and while currently the director is not very well known in the United States, we suspect that this will change once the film hits theaters.

HOMBRE: How did you get your start in the film industry?
Rodrigo Cortes: It depends on what you mean when you say “industry”. I made my first short film when I was 14, in super-8, and my first 35 mm short film when I was 24. In 2000 I made 15 DAYS, that became the most awarded short film ever in Spain, which helped me make THE CONTESTANT, my first feature length film.  

H: Can you tell our readers a little bit about your heritage?
RC: My heritage has to do with those “editor-directors” that invented cinematic story-telling, from Eisenstein and Buster Keaton to Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles or Martin Scorsese, my pagan god, the best director alive. RAGING BULL is probably my favorite movie ever, together with REAR WINDOW, THE SEARCHERS or 2001. GOODFELLAS changed my life.  

H: What made you decide to make a movie about someone being buried alive? Has it ever been a fear of yours?
RC: Well, Chris Sparling wrote it, and did an amazing job. I simply shot it. But yes, it’s an old fear of, probably, everybody’s. A truly primal fear.  

H: It seems like a big risk to film a movie with one actor in only one location, what made you set it up this way?
RC: I decided to make it against common sense because I strongly felt the possibility of doing something literally never done, a never tried narrative and technical challenge. Isn’t it something a director should always seek?  

H: Were you at all nervous that the idea might not be received well?
RC: Not at all, which doesn’t mean that I expected it to be received well. I always keep my expectations neutral, so I can react to reality in real time.  

H: Can you explain to our readers what methods you used to build the suspense and keep the audience so engaged?
RC: I focused on becoming BURIED a physical experience, not a movie to be seen but a movie to be experienced. If you want to feel what been buried alive is, this is your film. I guarantee you’ll leave the theater with four pounds less.  

H: What were some of the challenges you faced making this film?
RC: Everything on this film was some kind of challenge, actually, but the worst part was not shooting it inside a box, but in only 17 days. It was agony. Instead of the regular number of eight to twelve shots a day we had to shoot about 30-35. A day. One day, we shot 52. A stress nightmare, believe me, that somehow fed the film.  

H: How did Ryan Reynolds respond and react to filming an entire movie inside such a confined space?
RC: I think he accepted because of my poor English, there’s something he didn’t understand on our first meeting, and he understood it when it was too late. The truth is that he put any vanity aside and went beyond sense of duty. His talent and commitment not only was a gift for everybody, but the basis of everything, since everything in BURIED is over his shoulders. Ryan Reynolds is BURIED.  

H: There were a lot of political undertones in this film. Is there a specific message you are hoping it conveys to its audience?
RC: I love political thrillers, but BURIED is not one of them. Nothing’s on the nose, BURIED is not an ideological film nor a pamphlet, but a high tension thriller. The creepiest ever.  

H: What can we expect to see from you in the future? Are there any projects you are currently involved in that we should be aware of?
RC: I’m preparing RED LIGHTS, hopefully my next film, a paranormal thriller with a very scientific approach, that explores how our brain is not a tool you can trust to perceive reality.  

H: Tell us more about filming in Spain and the crew on this film?
RC: Being buried alive six feet under is pretty similar everywhere, but the food was fantastic, as was the crew. Because of the food.