Cube[a] is a 2021 Japanese science fiction horror film written by Koji Tokuo and directed by Yasuhiko Shimizu [ja].

As they navigate the maze in an attempt to escape, they confront personal secrets, and tensions arise, testing their trust and cooperation.

The film explores themes of survival and paranoia, reinterpreting the original concept within a Japanese cultural context.

Engineer Yuichi Goto wakes up in a similar room alongside middle school student Chiharu Uno and freeter Shinji Ochi.

Goto sacrifices his chance to escape to ensure that Uno and Kai reach a room moving toward the exit.

Kai insists on staying behind to search for more survivors, and Uno exits the cube through a passageway leading to a light.

It is revealed that Kai is cybernetically monitoring the survivors as part of an experiment and re-enters the cube to begin the process anew with a different group.

[1] James Marsh, writing for the South China Morning Post, gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, and summarized: "The movie is so repetitive and sluggish, and the characters so insufferable, that being stuck in the deadly cube might seem preferable to watching it.