Cube Zero

Cube Zero is a 2004 Canadian psychological thriller/horror film, written and directed by Ernie Barbarash. It is the third film in the Cube film series, but is a prequel to the first film. Even though the first two films take place almost entirely within the maze, Cube Zero takes place in both the interior and exterior of the cube and makes significant use of outdoor scenes.

Plot

The film starts with a man, Ryjkin, trying to escape from the Cube. He enters a cube and is sprayed with liquid that he thinks is only water. However, when he rubs the back of his hand, a piece of flesh falls off. This continues all over his body, and he then melts on the floor and dies.

A man named Eric is watching a video feed of this in an observation room with a co-worker named Dodd. Afterwards, Eric is shown to be sketching a portrait of Dodd (in the form of a superhero called Chessman) while playing chess with him at the same time. Dodd has the chess board in front of him, but Eric is at another table, simply drawing and naming his moves. Eric seems to be vastly intelligent, calculating all of Dodd's moves. After Eric wins, he asks Dodd questions about their missing colleagues. Dodd tells him not to ask too many questions or get involved with the occupants of the Cube because it wouldn't make "those upstairs" happy.