Fermat's Room (2007)

Fermat's Room (La habitacion de Fermat) revolves around four disparate people who are invited to a mysterious mathematics summit.  All are given names of famous mathematicians (Pascal, Hilbert, Oliva, Galois) and instructed by letter not to reveal any information about their personal lives.  These four were chosen because they were presumably the only ones to solve a riddle which was sent out to hundreds.  When they arrive at a secluded house in the country, they find their host has not yet arrived, but he does soon after, and the fifth member of the story is finally  in place - Fermat.  However, Fermat receives a phone call and is informed that his daughter (who is in the hospital in a coma) needs him.  He promptly leaves, and soon after, a PDA spews forth a riddle with a one minute time limit.  The remaining quartet think it's a fun game and set about solving the puzzle at a languid pace.  However, as the minute expires, the walls of the room start slowly closing in on the group.  When they put the answer into the PDA, the walls stop, and a new puzzle is transmitted, with another 60 second time limit...

This structure can get a bit thin after awhile, and so the filmmakers have the strangers start to reveal things about themselves, and we discover that they are not such strangers to each other after all...

While watching the film, I got caught up in the intricacies of the puzzles, and it was quite fun trying to solve the riddles along with the group (I failed shockingly, shockingly), and the whole affair seemed very clever and well-thought out.  I'm sure it was, too, but the problem is it doesn't really hold up.  Not sure I can even explain why, but the rationale for the whole thing just doesn't seem believable.

Sorry for the vagueness, but I can't really say much more without giving away a major plot point and ruining the film.  Actually, maybe that's it: this - and other films that rely on a big "reveal" - don't hold up because they not only rely on a gimmick, they are a gimmick.  And the more I though about it after the fact, the more I discovered several gaping plot holes.  Like The Sixth Sense - or Saw (and its myriad sequels), or Sleepaway Camp, or The Crying Game, or...you get the picture - before it, Fermat's Room is a one trick pony, and while definitely fun to watch once - and, don't get me wrong, it's certainly worth a view, and an enjoyable view it is - it's not a film you'll feel compelled to return to, like, say, Cube.