As if you hadn’t noticed, very few directors are taking any chances with the films they make these days. That pioneering spirit of early cinema has all but gone. Everyone’s playing it safe – in Hollywood at least – because as far as they’re concerned, safe sells. Buried won’t change this tiresome attitude, but at least it’s brave enough to go against the grain.

It’s a simple premise: Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) wakes up in a coffin underground; he doesn’t remember how he got there, but he sure as hell knows that he doesn’t have much time left if he wants to get out of there alive. The question is – how?

And that really is it. For an hour and a half audiences are left watching Reynolds squirm around in a box. A dirty one at that. For the average filmgoer, whose taste doesn’t often veer from the usual bland dross served up by the multiplexes, this will be a huge test of their patience. But if they hold their nerve, they will be rewarded.

As brave as this film is in the current clime, it’s nothing new. Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés is obviously a fan of the master of suspense, as Buried is one big wet kiss to Alfred Hitchcock. In 1944 Hitch directed Lifeboat which followed the survivors of a torpedoed ship on board a lifeboat adrift at sea. And in 1948 he made Rope starring James Stewart, which was set in an apartment and was filmed in one shot (well almost, as he had to reload the film in the camera a few times, so due to the technical restraints he had to resort to some very subtle editing).

Buried then is a curious hybrid, one that Hitch more than likely would have been flattered by and approving of. It’s entirely set underground in a box, and is almost shot in real time. Despite its deceptively simple premise, it’s a film that could only really have been made in modern times. Although the real threat to Conroy is the genuine fear of being buried alive, the catalyst for his actions all stem from the modern evil that is the mobile phone.

Thankfully he’s (presumably) close enough to the surface to get a signal on the mobile phone he discovers in the box with him. Not only does he then have a series of fairly odd calls to make (“Hi there, I wonder if you can help me, you see I’m in a box...” sort of thing), but he also has the threat of running out of battery at some point. And sadly for him, this is not one of those top of the range coffins that comes with a built in phone charger.

His story slowly reveals itself with every call that he makes. He’s just an average Joe, whose work has found him ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Clearly Cortés needed this type of character, as an audience is less likely to root for an arsehole buried underground.

One of the most noticeable aspects about the film, which Hitch would most certainly approve of, doesn’t actually appear on the screen. With so much silence as it plays out, audiences are drawn to the rather hypnotic sound of the projector working. Instead of being a distraction, it enhances the almost overwhelming sensation of isolation. This won’t be claustrophobics idea of a good night out then.

The concept works really well for the most part, but it does overcook the egg somewhat towards the end. Although it’s fair to say that playing Snake on his phone probably wouldn’t have been a great out, his conversations with his employer feel unconvincing and a tad flat.

Reynolds has to be highly commended for taking on a job that certainly doesn’t show off his talent in a good light – hardly any light at all for that matter – but proves that he’s up for taking noticeable risks with his career. But then perhaps it’s an ego thing; he is after all, the best actor in it – the only actor, sure, but still the best.

Buried won’t set box office figures alight; it’s also unlikely to spawn multiple sequels (“Conroy is back, and this time his box is that little bit smaller!” or “Conroy thought he had it bad the first time round in the box, now he’s got the wife and kids!”). What it does do however is prove that perhaps that pioneering spirit isn’t quite six feet under after all.