La Habitación de Fermat (Fermat's Room) (2007)

70% of critics liked it
(27 reviews)
54% of users liked it
(1,778 ratings)

A group of motley math experts must solve problems at lightning speed to avoid being squashed into oblivion in writer-director Luis Piedrahita's mindbending thriller Fermat's Room. The story begins with a handsome, twentysomething intellectual, Galois (Alejo Sauras) banking off the success of… More A group of motley math experts must solve problems at lightning speed to avoid being squashed into oblivion in writer-director Luis Piedrahita's mindbending thriller Fermat's Room. The story begins with a handsome, twentysomething intellectual, Galois (Alejo Sauras) banking off the success of solving an intimidating mathematical enigma known as Goldbach's theorem. Galois then receives an invitation from the mysterious stranger Fermat (Federico Luppi) who invites both him and several other intellectuals to a set location in a warehouse, with the stated intention of having them collectively solve a mathematical riddle. He instructs them to avoid bringing cell phones, which none do. Upon arrival, Fermat indeed greets them in the warehouse, but is soon summoned offsite and leaves his invitees alone. As soon as he departs, odd events begin to transpire: the members of the group begin receiving strange mathematical riddles on their PDAs which they must solve in under a minute; subsequently, hydraulic presses on the exterior of the warehouse kick on and the walls begin to close in, threatening the lives of the protagonists. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Luis Piedrahita, Rodrigo Sopeña
Written By: Rodrigo Sopeña, Luis Piedrahita
Genres: Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Apr 17, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Sep 29, 2009
Studio: Notro Films

Critic Reviews

David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
The filmmakers have us hooked with a terrific mystery and the challenge of a good puzzle.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The best part is that, for once, it's a film about smart people.
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com
... a cerebral thriller with a different kind of locked-room mystery.
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
Rather like the film itself - the extras on the DVD may be limited by budget, but they still exceed expectations.
Anne Wollenberg, Filmstar Magazine
Fermat's Room appears to be about maths, but it's more of a whodunnit, and a surprisingly watchable one at that.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
This is an ingenious, relentlessly exciting film, a moral fable at once visceral and cerebral.
Charlotte O'Sullivan, This is London
An ingenious Spanish thriller about maths, sex, ambition and dog poo.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
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.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Tense and brainy. And thoroughly entertaining.
Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine
Maths boffins + twist of mystery - patchy ending = uneven thriller.
David Jenkins, Time Out
The maths element of the film, which on the surface is its USP, feels like dressing on a taut but tawdry genre thriller.
Wendy Ide, Times [UK]
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.
Cosmo Landesman, Times [UK]
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.
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]
It's all done with style, with very little of the strain you might expect from filming in such a restricted environment.
Jessica Holland, Little White Lies
A confidently shot, fast-paced first feature.
Chris Prince, Sky Movies
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.
Philip Kemp, Total Film
This feature debut for co-directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña is never quite as clever as it thinks it is, and there are some sizeable holes in the plot. Still, with its teasing sense of play, you won't be crawling the walls.
Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail [UK]
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.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Tired of P

Question: Are you good at math? Can you easily solve puzzles, riddles, or logic problems? What if your life depended on it? Could you think under such pressure? After having a pretty crappy day today I decided the only thing that would make it end much better was to watch a film.… More
Question: Are you good at math? Can you easily solve puzzles, riddles, or logic problems? What if your life depended on it? Could you think under such pressure? After having a pretty crappy day today I decided the only thing that would make it end much better was to watch a film. It relaxes me. But when I finally hit play on the TiVo recorded movie, Fermat's Room from the Sundance Channel, I ended up feeling slightly stupid and my nerves heightened. Why is that? Well, let's just say that if I didn't have my fingers I couldn't count to 10. Yes, I am not good in math, plus the premise of the movie puts you slightly on edge. Fermat's Room - a Spanish film - is a thriller and what a perfect genre to take you out of your element, right? I laid down on my bed, letting the day slowly slip away and it worked because quickly I had to keep up with the subtitles (yes, these were a little quick for me on this film) with the opening scene with a rather handsome fellow talking about numbers. He asked a couple of girls if they were good at math and if not they should just walk away now. Yes, I considered turning off the movie at that moment, but I was actually fascinated with the prime number theory he discussed. Not that I understood it - at all, however, the movie had me at that point. Yay! Soon you are introduced to three other mathematicians, 2 men and 1 woman. They are all sent a riddle (or enigma as it was called in this film) to solve and if they solved it they would receive an invitation to an "enigma solving gathering or party". The four each solve the enigma and are given instructions to meet at a certain place and time with very strict instructions: No personal information shared and they are each given a name of a famous mathematician that they must use throughout the entire evening. I really don't want to say more because my favorite genre requires me to keep you all in the dark so you can appreciate the film if you chose to watch it. However, I will say what happened next was totally mesmerizing. Even if you aren't good at math or problem solving it doesn't matter. The intensity of the plot keeps you completely focused on what's happening and wondering if they will solve the next puzzle and their lives. Yes, I am stopping there. Nope, I am not gonna tell you anymore about Fermat's Room. Enjoy. Directed (and co-written) by Luis Piedrahita, Notro Films, 2007. Starring: Alejo Sauras, Lluís Homar, Santi Millán, Federico Luppi and Elena Ballesteros Genre: Mystery, Thriller. My favorite thing: It helped me forget about my day. My least favorite thing: That I wasn't better in math - well, we all have our talents and this one reminded me that math is NOT mine. Rating: NR Length: 88 minutes Review: 7 out of 10
Aditya G

Writers-directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena were clearly inspired when they made this neat low-budget "Math thriller", as I like to call it. "Fermat's Room" reminded me of three films: Darren Aronofsky's "Pi", Vincenzo Natali's… More
Writers-directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena were clearly inspired when they made this neat low-budget "Math thriller", as I like to call it. "Fermat's Room" reminded me of three films: Darren Aronofsky's "Pi", Vincenzo Natali's underrated Canadian thriller "Cube" and James Wan's cult thriller "Saw". At the same time it also reminded me of some of Hitchcock's work! That said, this film scores because it is a classic case of inspiration and is not a rip-off. The film is literally an interesting puzzle box for puzzle geeks or Math geeks. A math genius who calls himself "Fermat" sends out a math riddle to various mathematicians and scientists around and adds a message that only those who manage to crack the puzzle would get to share a grand dinner at a gathering with other true geniuses. At this dinner, Fermat would interest all these bright people with "one of the greatest enigmas ever" that he has planned for them to solve. Only four people manage to crack Fermat's code and end up at the place of the meeting following the cryptic clues laid out for them. The real names of these people are never revealed; they are given pseudonyms by Fermat; all these pseudonyms being names of former mathematicians! Once at the venue they discover that the very room they are in IS in fact the enigma.....it is a meticulously designed "shrinking room" that is slowly closing in on them. The only way to escape being crushed by the walls and preventing the room from becoming their tomb is by solving some puzzles sent to them on a sole PDA that has been given to them. The PDA is connected to the system that controls the shrinking! Solving each puzzle correctly in the stipulated time would prevent the house from shrinking and only then would they be able to save themselves! [img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EVdzNf_Qe6Q/TwMFiU9hJGI/AAAAAAAACII/GnN-WzSiIFQ/s688/vlcsnap-2012-01-03-18h51m13s67.jpg[/img] Although somewhat far-fetched, the premise is definitely refreshing and "Fermat's Room" is packed with all the essential ingredients of a typical claustrophobic thriller of this sort. There is the paranoia, the lack of trust, the nervousness, the constant feeling that it is anything but a coincidence that the four people were brought there together. Sure, it does ring a bell and we have seen a few thrillers of this sort before. What wins this film more points is the ingenious idea of a shrinking room, and the breathtaking manner in which the effects of the same have been achieved with a minimal set design and almost no reliance on special makeup effects or gratuitous violence and gore. The entire film relies on human emotions and reactions, and of course, the highly intriguing puzzles set out for the guests by their mysterious host. At a time when they can hardly think straight with death staring in their faces, our guests are subjected to some brain-racking math problems that would prove to be the ultimate test of their abilities as they are forced to perform in a 'pressure' situation (pun intended)! We find ourselves struggling to find the solution as we watch our primary characters racing against time to get to the bottom of each riddle. Of course, you have to be a lover of logic puzzles to find this little part interesting! The filmmakers, perhaps, deliberately refrain from including hardcore math puzzles (involving theorems and numbers) so as to reach a wider audience. It was imperative to have actors who could pull off a film relying on everything else so minimal and hence an apt choice of actors comprising of Lluís Homar (terrific actor; has worked with Pedro Almodovar), Santi Millán, Federico Luppi (a favourite of Guillermo Del Toro), Alejo Sauras and Elena Ballesteros. The guys are all do good; however the sole female actor in this venture is the weakest of the lot as she appears almost stoic in the worst of situations! It is uncertain whether the directors wished that, or whether Elena is wooden in the first place; nonetheless, hers is the weakest performance in the film. [img]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HxGCANfrQ20/TwMFpVTfOxI/AAAAAAAACIQ/ewm-FVqE8MA/s688/vlcsnap-2012-01-03-19h09m48s251.jpg[/img] The film manages to hold our attention fairly well with its taut screenplay and a good amount of twists thrown our way in the final half hour. Maybe it's just me, but too many twists sometimes lead to the undoing of an otherwise satisfying story. The twists in "Fermat's Room" border on the 'brilliant' as well as 'contrived'. Thus, a couple of those several surprises, while surely manage to catch us unawares, still seem slightly forced! Add to that a very 'convenient' finale designed as a perfect wrap-up device that is, again, slightly less impressive. In spite of the shortcomings, "Fermat's Room" is a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing thriller and deserves credit for being one of the better low budget films of the genre. Recommended....quite certainly. Score: 7.5/10
Wahida K

Oh Happy day. When this Movie was recommendad to me I expected a shoker it turned out a "yawner"
Lesley N

The film starts off with Goldbach's conjecture - that every even number greater than two can be written as the sum of two prime numbers (e.g. 10 = 3 + 7). I'm geeky, I like that kind of thing. So I had a great time watching this hybrid of SLEUTH and a U certificate SAW as… More
The film starts off with Goldbach's conjecture - that every even number greater than two can be written as the sum of two prime numbers (e.g. 10 = 3 + 7). I'm geeky, I like that kind of thing. So I had a great time watching this hybrid of SLEUTH and a U certificate SAW as four top mathematicians (two of which also happen to be young and cute) end up in a high-concept shrinking room which can only be stopped by solving a series of admittedly not-very-mathematical-at-all puzzles. And yes, I did press the Pause button so I could work out the answers first... so double-geeky me then .
Marcus W

Four people trapped in a shrinking room have to solve puzzles before the walls crush them. Great idea, love it! Sadly, in explaining the whys and wherefors of how they came to be there, all tension is eliminated and it becomes a lot less clever.
Eduardo C

The four dumbest "geniuses" in film history. You know a film sucks when the audience is able to figure out the answer to the puzzles way before these mathematicians can.
John M

A spanish flix that manages to be intelligent, intriguing and thrilling which bears special resemblance to 'The cube' The concept is simple but effective and is built on by several layers of mystery and good performances.