Containment

From the title and the movie jacket there is no mystery as to what "Containment" is about. There has been an outbreak of a mysterious virus and the British government wishes to contain it before it spreads too far. I've seen enough of these types of movies and a few of them have been done really well. I expected this movie to be along the lines of "Contagion", "REC" and others like them.

"Containment" started off really hot. Right away the main character finds himself locked into his own flat. From that point on it is a matter of finding out why. He is joined by other neighbors and one of them is just a powder keg ready to blow. It was at the time of the neighbors joining one another that the movie began to sour for me.

I get that you need drama in movies for them to be exciting and worthwhile and a lot of times the drama comes from the characters themselves, but these characters were just plain unlikable. I get that stressful situations brings about certain behavior, but is it too much for people (neighbors no less) to be in accord just once? Because they were quarantined together I had to put up with this maddening motley crew for the entire movie. The focus was very local, as in you knew nothing more than what was going on at the apartment building under quarantine so all decisions being made were with the information available to the imprisoned. The containment situation went from bad to worse as level-headedness gave way to hysteria.

My quick rating 4,3/10. When Shocktober is here, I like some horror, sci fi is good with the horror mix, thriller works as well and this movie had all that....OK it had that in the billing. Truth be told, this movie has zero horror elements and even the sci fi element is a stretch. All that is left is a thriller, and not a very good one. A poorly acted group gets stuck (by glue) into an apartment with no reason/warning. No food, water, phone etc. just a straight up quarantine. The movie explores how people would react to this situation. Well, that is your movie, no rhyme or reason, no actual tension and no acting that can hold the story. Even 76 minutes seemed to long as evident in the drawn out scenes that another person described as "making the movie longer" or I would call "filler" There was no real story, more so just an idea. This was evident in how it ended. Too bad, with more to it and better acting, they may have had something.

"Are you an artist? No.Yes. It's debatable."

In "Tower Block" a group of residents were gradually slaughtered by a sniper and although they didn't really knew each other, they started relying on each other to save themselves from that situation. In "The Divide" it was about survivors of a nuclear attack locked in a cellar ending up in a chaotic struggle for survival. In the low-budget film "Containment", residents of several apartment buildings suddenly realize that their apartment is sealed off, there's no electricity or water and phones are dead. Meanwhile, a sort of field hospital is being set up between the buildings and several figures in orange safety suits escort people to it. Initially, there's the notification that a gas leak is the cause of all this trouble. But as a group of residents witness plain executions of fleeing victims, they realize that there's something more going on.

A group consisting of Mark (Lee Ross), a not so successful artist with a failed marriage, the young couple Sally (Louise Brealey) and Aiden (William Postlethwaite), the aggressive Sergei (Andrew Leung) and his younger brother Nicu (Gabriel Senior) and a somewhat senile older woman called Enid (Sheila Reid), attempt to find a way out. After some thin cardboard-like walls were being demolished (especially by the energetic Sergei), these colorful individuals were able to form a group. A group of individuals who have no idea what's actually going on and who are also total strangers to one another. Soon they start to panic, despite there are messages broad-casted on the intercom that they all should remain calm. The images of hysterical neighbors who try to bash in their window and the aggressive removal of an entire family, clearly don't help with that. As a viewer you start asking yourself what the hell is going on. Is it something military? Or just another epidemic with a deadly virus in the leading role?

And to be honest, this was the most successful part of this indie film. The way the viewer is kept in the dark and information about the entire situation is offered in dribs and drabs. Granted, the whole thing isn't very original and sometimes really looks cheap. No breathtaking action scenes or hallucinatory special effects. The acting wasn't very impressive either. Only Leung was able to convince me, and acted at times really grandiose. And especially Sheila Reid stood out with her demure and brilliant acting. And occasionally the humor was rather enjoyable.

Despite the simple storyline and the typical features that come with this kind of film, Lemon succeeded to distance himself from the most obvious outcome. It's not just another film about a virus outbreak that turns innocent people into bloodthirsty zombies. The oppressive atmosphere maintained in this short film (also a plus). However, again those typical characters appeared as usual. The most positive side about this movie was the bigger picture behind this seemingly simplistic story. A story without a clear answer and open to conjecture. Not exactly a feature I'm a fan of, but here it didn't bother me that much. What did bother me were some practical issues. First of all, I admire the team that managed to seal all those windows and doors in the buildings in such a short time. That must have been a hell of a job. And furthermore I was dumbfounded that no one came up with the idea to throw something heavy through the windows. It don't think this organization succeeded in replacing all that glass by shock resistant material.

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Mark wakes up late, missing a court appearance to find no water coming out of his taps, his communications cut off, and his door glued shut.

So it's a little flawed, it feels like it was made as a student film, and Lee Ross is the nine millionth person we'd cast as a lead role in a thriller, but for my humble opinion I felt it worked rather well. Lee is a great comic actor, but also credible in a straight role, he's great. The film is totally stolen by Sheila Reid, straight out of Benidorm, it could have been written for Madge, she's so good.

I expected an ambiguous ending and I wasn't disappointed, I kept expecting zombies and wondering if there'll be a follow up.

Imagine waking up to these events? Thought provoking, in a similar way to Threads. More enjoyable then the reviews give it credit for. 7/10.

Small budget British film about a group of people trying to figure out why they are locked up in their flat. The answer to this will be painfully obvious from the outset and the film will unravel just as you will expect. However that doesn't mean it is terrible by any stretch of the imagination. In fact it is a pretty solid 'survivor group' film with all the regular character types you would expect from such, so if you are a fan of these types of films then you will definitely find something to enjoy.

For anyone else there will most likely be a problem with pacing as it does seem to drag a tad, especially since it takes awhile for the film to reveal to the characters what we as the audience have figured out from near the beginning. There are also a lot of clichés that will seem tired and obvious, as well as possibly lazy.

Despite this there is nothing glaringly bad about the film, which to its credit works very well within its budget and keeps everything nice and simple so that it works and doesn't seem cheap or unfinished. Overall it is a good study for those looking to make a similar type of film as it is a textbook case of a group of people dropped into an unfamiliar situation where they seek to survive. As such it doesn't reach any dizzying heights or provoke much original thought, but it is solid and certainly is worth a watch if you are a fan of this sort of film.