Click to read the article
Fermat's Room (2008)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:17
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: This stylish yet disappointingly predictable Spanish thriller is never as exciting or ingenious as it hopes to be.
Reviews for Fermat's Room
There's something dreadfully pedantic about this locked-room mystery.
The possibility of being squished to a pulp always focuses the mind, although, as this by-the-numbers Spanish thriller proves, it doesn't necessarily make arithmetic any more interesting.
The film is sufficiently tense, economical and fast-moving to warrant a Hollywood remake, but lacks the lethal menace or twisted ingenuity of the original Saw.
The high tension that should come with a race-against-time scenario is never realised, and the film’s solution to the enigma of who-what-and-why this all happened is disappointing.
The maths element of the film, which on the surface is its USP, feels like dressing on a taut but tawdry genre thriller.
It's not as exciting or as clever as it thinks it is and is essentially sub-par Agatha Christie mixed with Cube.
The diabolical m.o. in these things is never really satisfactory, and even the fun of the conceit is somewhat muffled by the film’s lurid colour design and headachey close-ups.
God knows I’m no maths genius but even I can spot that if all four hydraulic presses are pushing the walls inwards at once they would simply jam.
Once the walls start to move, there's barely a moment to catch your breath as sharp editing, clever camera angles and good use of sound, squeeze the tension of every moment.
It's all done with style, with very little of the strain you might expect from filming in such a restricted environment.
Fermat's Room appears to be about maths, but it's more of a whodunnit, and a surprisingly watchable one at that.
As elegant and addling as the enigma(s) at its core, this claustrophobic thriller will keep viewers conjecturing right up to its humanist solution.
An ingenious Spanish thriller about maths, sex, ambition and dog poo.
The filmmakers have us hooked with a terrific mystery and the challenge of a good puzzle.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 100% 100% | Daybreakers | 1/8 |
| 83% 83% | Youth in Revolt | 1/8 |
| | The Book of Eli | 1/15 |
| | The Spy Next Door | 1/15 |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Fermat's Room at Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh Links
Featured

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!







