I expected so little from this small movie with its no-name cast that I gave it my usual 20-minute test. (If a movie doesn't grab me in 20 minutes, can it.)<br /><br />Was I surprised! Although a low-budget film, the acting was quite good & Richard Shepard (who wrote & directed) did an excellent job, grabbing interest quickly & sustaining it.<br /><br />The bad guy, Harry, at first seemed a simple-minded villain. However, although he was distinctly good at being an obnoxious sociopath (the terms do not always go in tandem, the seemingly affable Ted Bundy is a one example), he DID become far more interesting than I imagined -- much smarter than one would have suspected. We're talking gut smart, instinct smart, perhaps even intuitively keen. His ability to 'read' Madeline, to ferret out her true persona, to observe him honing in on her psychological dysfunction was fascinating.<br /><br />From the get-go, Madeline has your attention. Is she simply a cop driven to serve society & keep the ordinary citizen safe? Partially. Then we discover Madeline's secret side, a side her husband doesn't see but Harry latches onto almost immediately.<br /><br />I do remember stories of people being buried alive, especially since I'm old enough to have seen the original Vincent Price movies when first released & am familiar with the Poe fears and stories. As the victim, Frances (played very well by Laila Robins) is sealed in a wooden coffin covered with dirt somewhere apparently so isolated nobody near can hear her dog's insistent barking. Her fear is palpable & comes across with brutal reality. You hope she will survive -- but the outcome is questionable as time ticks agonizingly slow for her but too quickly for those trying to ensure her rescue. It's Einstein's relativity theory embodied in this very tense situation.<br /><br />On the debit side, more could have been done with her husband. His character was shunted aside too much for my taste: what kind of relationship did they have & why was he so unaware of her darker side? An alcoholic problem is addressed fleetingly, but as any member of a 12-step group would know, one has to reach a base understanding of motivation to move ahead. Maybe they hadn't attended enough meetings.<br /><br />Summing up, 'Oxygen' was a surprising treat. It pulls you in quickly, deals quite well with complex situations. Although I shun violence, found myself wanted to applaud a violent act which I personally consider not to be an exception in real life.