History Film / Buried

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:A particularly nasty one sets up the film's [[CruelTwistEnding bleak]] [[DownerEnding ending]]. Dan calls Paul just as his coffin is almost completely filled with sand and tells him that his team have found his coffin. Paul's wife Linda calls, and he switches over to tell her they've found him. They exchange "I love you"s and she makes him promise that he'll get home safe, then he switches back to Dan. On the other line, Paul hears the team soldiers digging, desperately trying to get him out, but he can't hear anything around him. At the last second, Dan apologizes and tells Paul that they've been led to the wrong person just as the coffin fills up completely.]]
** [[spoiler:The HopeSpot is two-fold. The body Dan's team finds is that of a man that Dan earlier told Paul that he saved months ago. Since he had to lie just to give one example of a successful rescue, Dan has presumably never saved anyone before. What little hope for rescue Paul had throughout the film was based on a lie.]]

* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Dan tells Paul that his team have been given the whereabouts of a man who was buried alive and are driving to the location, and [[HopeSpot it seems that Paul is finally going to be rescued]]. However, with Paul's coffin dangerously filled with sand, Dan informs him that the coffin his team dug up was the one that belonged to Mark White, not him. Paul is given all of 10 seconds to process this before his coffin completely fills with sand and he suffocates, during which Dan can only apologize.]]

* FalseReassurance: Paul seems to be GenreSavvy about this, and asks Dan to give him at least one example of a civilian being rescued from a premature burial to prove that he’s not being led on. Dan relates to Paul the story of Mark White, a 26-year old med student who was similarly kidnapped by insurgents and buried alive, but was rescued by Dan. Paul is slightly skeptical about this claim, but uses it as a symbol of hope regardless. [[spoiler:Sadly, this was indeed just a way to keep Paul calm while Dan did everything he could to find the coffin. He ends up actually finding the coffin of Mark White at the worst possible time, mere moments before Paul's coffin is to fill completely, and apologizes profusely as Paul dies knowing that he’d been clinging to false hope.]]

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:A particularly nasty one sets up the film's [[CruelTwistEnding bleak]] [[DownerEnding ending]]. Dan calls Paul just as his coffin is almost completely filled with sand and tells him that they've found his coffin. Paul's wife Linda calls, and he switches over to tell her they've found him. They exchange "I love yous", then he switches back to Dan. On the other line, you hear the soldiers digging, desperately trying to get Paul out, but Paul can't hear anything around him. At the last second, Dan apologizes and tells Paul that they've been led to the wrong person just as the coffin fills up completely.]]
** [[spoiler:The HopeSpot is two-fold. The body they find is that of a man that Dan earlier tells Paul that he saved months ago. Since he had to lie just to give one example of a successful rescue, Dan has presumably never saved anyone before. What little hope for rescue Paul had throughout the film was based on a lie.]]

Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a US Contractor in Iraq. After an attack on his convoy, he awakens in a coffin with no idea how he got there. He has only a cell phone and a lighter, and starts to make frantic calls as he tries to remember what had happened to him and why this is happening to him now.

''Buried'' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2010.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:In Paul's final moments, when he knows that he isn't going to be saved, he tries to remain calm, trying to take steady breaths with the air he has left. Just before his coffin fills completely, he can be heard whispering, "Okay. Oh, God."]]

* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Dan tells Paul that they've found him, and begin unburying him. The one they found ends up being Mark White, not Paul.]]

* DownerEnding: Possibly an AmbiguousEnding. After the credits, there's a cryptic shot that shows us that [[spoiler: Paul wrote the name Mark White on the lid of his coffin. [[MindScrew The meaning of the shot is not immediately clear.]] It's possible that they dug Paul up successfully, took off the lid, saw the name on it, and assumed it was Mark White. The scene appears to be shot so that the lid is still on and the coffin is filling up with sand, but it's somewhat ambiguous, and Paul is out of it so the film could simply be showing us his perception of the situation. That still leaves a dead 26-year-old med student out there in Iraq somewhere, but the movie wasn't about him so it's a little less depressing.]]

* FalseReassurance: Paul seems to be GenreSavvy about this, and asks Dan to give him at least one example of a civilian being rescued from a premature burial to prove that he’s not being led on. Dan relates to Paul the story of Mark White, a 26-year old med student who was similarly kidnapped by insurgents and buried alive, but was rescued by Dan. Paul is slightly skeptical about this claim but uses that as a symbol of hope. [[spoiler:Sadly, this was indeed just a way to keep Paul calm while Dan does everything he can to find the coffin. He ends up actually finding the coffin of Mark White at the worst possible time, apologizing profusely as Paul dies knowing that he’d been clinging to false hope.]]
* FinallyFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:The capper of the CruelTwistEnding is that, whatever Dan the negotiator did offscreen to be led to the alleged location of Paul's burial site, he was instead led to the one of Mark White - the hostage Dan had told Paul about as a successful rescue months ago. The film ends with Paul apparently dying as Dan undergoes a HeroicBSOD.]]

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:A particularly nasty one. Mixes with DownerEnding. Dan calls Paul just as his coffin is almost completely filled with dirt and tells him that they've found him. Paul's wife, Linda, calls and he switches over to tell her they've found him. They exchange "I love yous", then he switches back to Dan. On the other line, you hear the soldiers digging, desperately trying to get Paul out. At the last second, Dan apologizes and tells Paul that they've been led to the wrong person just as the coffin fills up completely. Cue credits.]]

* IHaveAFamily: Paul pleads to his kidnapper to let him go, as he wants to see his wife and son again. [[spoiler:This might’ve unintentionally endangered them, as the kidnapper reveals that he has his credentials, and threatens to go after Paul’s family if he doesn’t give into his demands.]]

* KickTheDog: Paul's employer phoning him in the coffin to inform him his employment has been retroactively terminated to prior to his abduction and his family will not receive any benefits. Jesus Christ, that was low.
* MinimalistCast: Creator/RyanReynolds is the only actor shown. Save for one character seen in a video on a cell phone, there's no one else in the film.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers promoted this as being similar to the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies. It is nothing like it at all, and is closer to an art film.

* SquirrelsInMyPants: While Paul was sleeping, a snake crawled up his pants. The next scene shows Paul waking up as it slides out of his pants, where he sets it on fire.

* Hypocrite: Jabir certainly raises good points about the American invasion of Iraq. (Further below) However, when Paul counters that he is only a civilian truck driver who had nothing to do with any of the killings or the decision-making, and was in fact there to help with rebuilding, Jabir has no response.

* SquirrelsInMyPants: While Paul was sleeping, a poisonous snake crawled up his pants. The next scene shows Paul waking up as it slides out of his pants, where he sets it on fire.

* KickTheDog: Paul's employer phoning him in the coffin to inform him his employment has been terminated and his family will not receive any benefits. Jesus Christ, that was low.

* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler: Dan tells Paul that they've found him, and begin unburying him. The one they found ends up being Mark White, not Paul.]]

%%* TheHeroDies

* PlotInducedStupidity: [[spoiler: Several cases. Paul's kidnappers initially not telling him about the bag at the foot of the coffin (and indeed placing it in such a difficult place to begin with), despite obviously wanting him to use it. Also, leaving Paul a Zippo (which would burn up oxygen, cutting Paul's life expectancy short and leaving the kidnappers less time to get their ransom), when they also left him a flashlight. Also the silver hip flask which, in normal circumstances, would also most likely be looted]] .

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Paul's employers, who [[spoiler:contact him to let him know that his employment was terminated that day and his family won't be recieving any insurance, then leave him to rot.]]

* PlotInducedStupidity: [[spoiler: Several cases. Paul's kidnappers initially not telling him about the bag at the foot of the coffin (and indeed placing it in such a difficult place to begin with), despite obviously wanting him to use it. Also, leaving Paul a zippo (which would burn up oxygen, cutting Paul's life expectancy short and leaving the kidnappers less time to get their ransom), when they also left him a flashlight. Also the silver hip flask which, in normal circumstances, would also most likely be looted]] .
%%* ShootTheShaggyDog

* YourCheatingHeart: Possibly subverted. Allen Davenport from CRT informs Paul that his employment was terminated that morning due to him allegedly having some sort of relationship with a female colleague, Pamela, [[spoiler:whom he just saw killed on video]]. Paul is particularly offended by this accusation and insists that they were nothing more than friends. Whether or not Paul is lying or CRT misunderstood is made unclear, [[spoiler:especially due to Paul’s strong reaction to Pamela’s kidnapping and murder]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: The American invasion on Iraqi soil is Jabir's justification for him and the insurgents to kidnap and/or kill every single American they see. He points out that [[TheWarOnTerror 9/11]] and the actions of UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein were not the fault of his people and yet Americans are still occupying their land. Dan also points out how easy it is for Paul, an American, to say that he wouldn't commit some of the atrocities the insurgents commit for the sake of their families since he wouldn't typically be in a situation where he has his land taken from him and has to do anything he can to protect his own family.

* FalseReassurance: Paul seems to be GenreSavvy about this, and asks Dan to give him at least one example of a civilian being rescued from a premature burial to prove that he’s not being lead on. Dan relates to Paul the story of Mark White, a 26-year old med student who was similarly kidnapped by insurgents and buried alive, but was rescued by Dan. Paul is slightly skeptical about this claim but uses that as a symbol of hope. [[spoiler:Sadly, this was indeed just a way to keep Paul calm while Dan does everything he can to find the coffin. He ends up actually finding the coffin of Mark White at the worst possible time, apologizing profusely as Paul dies knowing that he’d been clinging to false hope.]]

* {{Flashback}}: Averted, while most of the viewers expect to see some flashbacks to mix up a bit the constant scenes with just the wooden box and Ryan in it, the movie never actually leaves the box.