A Sala de Fermat

Four mathematician's are invited to a home, to discuss ideas. Once there they soon discover that it's a trap, where they have to solve problems, while the walls slowly close in on them...

On paper, this film sounds like an intelligent version of Saw. And there are slight similarities, but it's a much cleverer film. The plot is well thought out, as it keeps you guessing on who is behind it all. The film is very well acted by the cast, and the writers and directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Soperia keep the tension through out. The set design of the single room is impressive as the clever use of camera angles to add to the building tension as the room gets smaller.

Despite being a film where they use a lot of problems so it relies on the brain more than brawn, the problems themselves aren't overly complicated, and are easy to understand.

If there is a slight let-down, I thought the ending isn't as clever as the rest of the film, but despite this I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it.

Prima facie, the premise of this Spanish thriller is very intriguing.

Four mathematicians, in a room that is gradually shrinking. This must be checked out, I said to myself.

Now, after having spent close to 2.5 hours trying to finish an 85 minute long mental ordeal, I am mentally exhausted and can come up with only platitudes.

Such as effing s*it. That's the quality of questions that are posed to these so called geniuses inside the room. I believe the members of this group would solve most of these puzzles in their sleep.

What I found hilarious was that with their lives on line and the time running out, people keep wasting time by telling stories to each other.

The end and the "reveal" are as terrible as the rest of the run time.

Can be safely recommended to people you want to put off films, for years.

This freaky and clever film chronicles fear , suspicion , desperation , paranoia of four mathematics (Elena Ballesteros , Alejo Sauras , Santi Millan and Luis Homar) completely strangers who are reunited in a Kafkaesque room by a mysterious host named Fermat (Federico Luppi) on the pretext of resolving a great enigma . Each one plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers to why they've been imprisoned . The widely varying personality characteristics work together utilizing their given abilities and talents to survive the deadly trap which guards the colored room . The room in which they find themselves turns out to be a shrinking room that will crush them if they do not discover in time what connects them all and why someone might wish to murder them.

The picture succeeds because the thriller , tension , suspense , as well as a superbly written script delving into the human psyche in such extreme situation and ours instinctive urges for survival . Despite its low budget the picture manages to be intelligent , intriguing and thrilling . The good thing about this film is that the directors made it on a shoestring budget only having to do one set , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . ¨Fermat's room¨ bears special resemblance to ¨The cube¨ (by Vicenzo Natali) , as there's also a dangerously premise about strangers closed attempting to find an exit and resolving enigmas and using their mathematical skills they press forward and backward through the walls to avoid get smashed because the room is reducing itself . Cast is frankly well giving fine performances , though little known with exception the veterans Federico Luppi (Cronos) who holds a strong Argetinean accent and Luis Homar (Backwoods , Los Borgia) . This motion picture relatively cheap was tautly directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña in his first and only movie because they're usually writers for television . This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and mysterious film to be liked for suspense fans , turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years . Rating : Better than average .

Gets off to a great start.... BUT...........

FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

Fermat's Room is a Psychological Mystery/Thriller offering from Spain that gets off to a very sure-footed start and seemed to hold out the promise of a very fast-paced and taut film!

The storyline itself is entertaining enough, but the characters never really flagged my interest. Basically, the chemistry was lacking!

FERMAT certainly did have its moments.... but fell considerably short of its potential. It really grabbed me from the opening credits, although hours later a little cerebral ricocheting had me recalling other films that had similar opening credit scenes. Unfortunately, no titles come to mind. If you watch it, let me know if your memory serves you better than mine!

Its not often you see a film that is both Co-Directed AND Co-Written by 2 young men (both 30 at the time) from different small towns in Spain. Luis Piedrahita, who gets top-billing both as Co-Director and Co-Writer, is a real Renaissance man. IMDb lists him as a Writer, Director, Actor, Comedian and award-winning Magician....of all things!

Ah, and therein lies the rub! Like its #1 Co-Director, FERMAT is just TOO busy, trying to pack in too much, too quickly, in its 85 minutes! At times, it wants to go in 5 different directions all at once!

To save themselves, four Math prodigies are forced to solve a slew of math problems/riddles. Another reviewer mentioned the problems shift gradually from left(logic) to right (intuitive) brain function...Yes, that's right, but I didn't really get it during the film...and I am still in higher Math overload! Of course, when it comes to Math, I make Forrest Gump look like Stephen Hawkings!

FERMAT needed another 20 minutes for more character development and to re-work its pace so that viewers could better absorb more of what's going on without feeling so stressed and lost. I liked the name of the boat. Did you catch it?... Pythagaros! BARELY LIMPS in at 6******.....ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

Unfortunately Fermat's Room adds nothing new to the idea of trapping a group of people in a single room and having them slowly piece together how they know one another. The general premise of course sounds interesting (at least to me) a shrinking room and four mathematicians must solve their way out. But the problem begins right there, they are only given one minute per question, which makes it damn near impossible for the audience to keep up. Not to mention when they begin to work out the problems on the chalkboard, the camera hardly ever puts it in frame, which would have been great for the audience to kind of sole the problem along with the characters.

But instead the movie shifts focus away from the riddles/enigmas and focuses on them trying to figure out who has put them there and why. This is where Fermat's Room becomes derivative and generic, this is very familiar territory for this type of movie and it is spun in an unengaging way. I personally would have enjoyed focuses more on the enigmas and trying to include the audience more (possibly by giving the characters more time to solve them).

And the unfortunate aspect of the movie is the Spanish subtitles, they were very fast moving which didn't help things (Just something that was unavoidable sadly). Like when the characters are dissecting the enigmas, the lines of dialogue moved too quickly to follow along with how they were solving the problem.

But when all is said and done, Fermat's Room is an interesting, little thriller that has just enough distinction from other films in the genre to make it worth mentioning.