BURIED
A gripping coffin thriller best kept for discerning adults.
Should You Watch It?
Buried makes an unusually difficult filmmaking challenge work. The camera never leaves Paul Conroy’s coffin, yet the film sustains strong suspense through phone calls, emotional reversals, and the pressure of time. Ryan Reynolds captures Paul’s trauma and desperation with conviction.
That achievement comes at a serious cost. The language is frequent and used to express Paul’s inner turmoil. The violence includes a woman’s execution shown on a video phone and Paul cutting off his own pinky to satisfy terrorists. The film also presents a mixed pagan worldview, anti-American sentiment from Paul’s captors, and an anti-capitalist depiction of his company.
If you are an adult seeking a tense thriller and can weigh those concerns carefully, watch it at home, where you control the experience. For family viewing, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESPaul Conroy, a civilian American truck driver working in Iraq, awakens buried alive inside a wooden coffin. His only tools are a cell phone and a lighter.
An Iraqi terrorist calls with a $5 million ransom demand and gives Paul until his air runs out. As Paul contacts 911 operators, U.S. embassy officials, his company, and family members, an international rescue operation unfolds above him. His fight for help takes place entirely inside the coffin.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is a strong, effective thriller with significant flaws. Director Rodrigo Cortes and writer Chris Sparling skillfully create tension inside Paul’s tiny wooden prison, sustaining suspense without cutting away from the coffin. Reynolds deftly captures the character’s emotional highs and lows.
The film’s tight premise and gripping final act are impressive. Still, the cell phone reception from six feet underground is questionable, and the poisonous desert snake’s arrival in the coffin is an implausible plot device. Those issues are forgivable, but they keep the film from being fully convincing.
The Worldview
Buried presents a mixed, pagan worldview. Paul and his wife say “thank God” several times when rescue seems possible, but Paul never calls on Jesus for salvation or forgiveness and never prays for divine rescue. The story instead centers on human desperation, political maneuvering, and survival.
The film includes anti-American sentiment from Paul’s Iraqi captors. It also depicts Paul’s company as willing to distance itself from his perilous situation to protect its corporate image, creating an anti-capitalist element. An Islamic call to prayer is heard in the background.
The movie recognizes the value of human life in Paul’s struggle to survive, but it also shows government officials treating his life as less important than avoiding an international media incident. Its moral elements do not develop into a distinctly biblical hope. Scripture offers a different response to trouble: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you” (Psalm 50:15).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong mixed pagan worldview with some moral, theistic elements such as man and his wife on the phone cry out “thank God” several times when rescue is coming, plus some anti-patriotic comments made by villain about soldiers and the US in Iraq, Islamic call to prayer is heard in the background, and anti-capitalist elements as large corporation deals unscrupulously with man in perilous situation; 50 obscenities and two profanities; strong violence includes discussions of truckers being ambushed and shot, man is stuffed inside a coffin and held for ransom, man has blood on his forehead implying earlier beating, snake gets inside coffin and man uses flask of alcohol and lighter to burn the snake, man watches female coworker be executed on video phone, man has knife and considers suicide, explosions from air raid are heard above, man cuts off his own finger and records it on video because the terrorists demand he do so; no sex, although man is accused of having extramarital affair and he denies it vehemently; no nudity; man has flask of alcohol and uses it to burn snake; no smoking but man takes anxiety pills; and, strong miscellaneous immorality includes lying, kidnapping, man is held for ransom and government officials view his life as less important than avoiding an international media incident.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Paul faces terror, isolation, and the pressure of limited time. Where do we turn when fear overwhelms us, and what does it mean to bring trouble honestly before God?
Psalm 50:15 · Philippians 4:6–7Paul’s company and government officials appear more concerned with reputation and politics than with his life. How should Christians value people when protecting an institution’s image seems easier?
Genesis 1:27 · Philippians 2:3–4The film uses “thank God” without showing prayer to Jesus or trust in God’s salvation. What is the difference between using God’s name in relief and truly calling on Him?
Romans 10:13 · Psalm 116:1–4Paul is forced into violent choices by terrorists. How should we think about justice, coercion, and the value of human life in such a situation?
Micah 6:8 · Romans 12:19The Final Word
Buried is a taut, skillfully made thriller with a powerful central performance. Its language, disturbing violence, pagan elements, and bleak moral complications make it unsuitable for family viewing. Watch it at home, if at all, and only as a discerning adult. WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For family movie night, see.
