Box: Metaphor (2023)

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Australia 2053.

Since the last w*r,

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 f*ckers!

Where's my baby?

Give me back

my f*cking 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.