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.

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.

It's low budget but does rather well with what it has. I've seen Hollywood blockbusters costing 100 times this movie that were 100 times worse.

There are plot holes and the characters are somewhat stereotypical, but on the whole I found it gripping enough to keep watching.

Worth a watch and gets a solid six.

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.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

"Containment" gets by purely on resourcefulness and sincerity. It's a niftily executed viral-outbreak thriller that, true to its title, makes good use of a confined space to ratchet up the drama of the situation, while working hard to bypass the more obvious narrative traps it creates for itself. Strong attention to detail and a disquieting score set this directorial debut feature apart, but some of the characters' motivations aren't entirely convincing.

There's nothing groundbreaking in this low-budget British thriller, but newbie director Neil Mcenery-West makes excellent use of his claustrophobic setting. Eventually, "Containment" succeeds in proving that you don't need a whopping great budget, nor an A-list cast to produce an accomplished piece of work.