Fermat's Room

Fermat's Room sprints along at such a pace that the viewer has no time to fret about potential plot holes (with a story as complex as this, logic says there *must* be some!), never mind trying to work out the mathematical puzzles the characters have to solve to prevent the walls of the eponymous room crushing them to death. In fact, the first instinct upon reaching the end of the film is to re-watch it, preferably with a pause button to hand.
The credits sequence slyly sets up the mystery as a gloved hand constructs a miniature room, subsequently revealed to be the room where the 4 mathematicians will be trapped. There's something unnerving about the sequence and it prepares us for the mystery to come: who? why? In fact, most of the first half masterfully succeeds in misdirecting both characters and audience about precisely these questions. One of the mathematicians appears to be the obvious target while another the equally obvious mastermind, but this is a film that enjoys playing games and nothing should be taken at face value.
The pseudonyms the characters adopt might be those of mathematicians, and the puzzles might be mathematical in nature, but the narrative is never ponderous. It's a smart film that wears it's cleverness lightly. If anything, the film is perhaps just a little too frenetic, especially during the denouement when the revelations come thick and fast and it's difficult to work out just what's truth and what's a lie. The initial question appears to be what links the 4 characters with the mysterious "Fermat" but it turns out it's not as simple as that. Inconsequential events have huge importance with the advantage of hindsight and it's the ability to correctly interpret them that proves vital. In that regard, it's natural that it should be "Pascal" (inventor of a popcorn-spouting duck, who initially struggled to solve to entrance puzzle and is battling with a drink problem) who can see most clearly. His practical mind hones in on the essentials at important moments - he's the one who first notices the walls closing in, as well as working out who's responsible. You can practically see him thinking things through. In many ways, he's the most sympathetic of the characters, with his self-inflicted penance for one tragic mistake. Only "Fermat" has a similar poignancy. The others are far too obsessed with the appeal of mathematics and fame (the true reason for their predicament) to connect in the same way. It's therefore satisfying that it's "Pascal" who has the last word.