Cube is a 1997 Canadian independent science fiction horror film directed and co-written by Vincenzo Natali. A product of the Canadian Film Centre’s First Feature Project, Nicole de Boer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Julian Richings, Wayne Robson, and Maurice Dean Wint star as individuals trapped in a bizarre and deadly labyrinth of cube-shaped rooms.
Peeking at the script, I think this was the scene that annoyed me.
“It seems like if any of these numbers of prime, then the room is trapped. Ok, 645… 645, that’s not prime. 372… no. 649… Wait, 11 x 59, it’s not prime either. So that room is safe.”
The pauses after 645 and 372 are pretty bad. The line should have been something like “645 and 372 are not prime. 649…”
As at the moment she was operating under the theory that only primeness mattered, anything with an even number or a five should have been instantaneous. 3s take a second to check (add the digits and see if that’s a multiple of 3). The rest of the primes up to 31 are tougher. (Well, you only have to worry about 961 for 31, as otherwise a lower prime will interfere, but eh.)
Oooh, I never thought about reading the script! When this came out in 1997 internet was a thing, but not the same it is today.
You’re right, she pauses after numbers which are obviously not prime (when primes were the known working theory)
We could argue that it’s a very stressful situation and she pauses to think because it’s not a relaxed moment and she doesn’t want to get it wrong or another possibility is let the audience think for themselves and realize they couldn’t have been prime, but then it would have been better if she had said loudly what the numbers were and the easy rule to exclude them
I laughed at this and my partner was also annoyed with it. Anything ending in an even number or 5 are obviously not prime.