Uncontained

I'll keep this mercifully short, since I only made it halfway through before deciding solitaire on my phone was far more compelling.

The good? Sure: decent concept, solid camera work. That's about where the compliments end.

The bad? Buckle up. Our fearless auteur apparently wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this masterpiece of nepotism. Naturally, he cast his family of non-actors in lead roles, because who needs talent when you have the same last name? Spoiler: they can't act, and it's painfully obvious.

But let's talk about the plot, which stumbles around like it's drunk in the dark. It's somehow both convoluted and insultingly simplistic, with all the depth of a kiddie pool in a drought. Characters make baffling choices purely to move the story along (such as it is), and any tension evaporates the second someone opens their mouth. It's like watching someone try to improvise a screenplay while forgetting what genre they're in every five minutes.

Maybe there was potential buried somewhere in there, but sadly, it's smothered under the crushing weight of unchecked ego and zero self-awareness.

As someone who rarely watches movies unless they're truly gripping and unique, I can confidently say I loved Uncontained. Honestly, this film is phenomenal-there wasn't a single boring moment. I was completely invested from start to finish.

The main characters, especially the two kids, were a standout. I adored how they acted like actual children-not unrealistically smart or mature for their age. The little girl's performance felt so natural, radiating warmth that kept me glued to the screen.

I'd give this movie a near-perfect 10/10, but a few loopholes nagged at me. For instance, I can overlook not seeing where the kids disposed of the couple's bodies, but what happened to the car parked outside their house? Did it vanish into thin air? There's no way the little boy drove it away.

That aside, Uncontained is outstanding. Its fresh take on "zombies" was thrilling, and the fight scenes had me on edge, desperately hoping the kids and the dog would be safe. My heart even dropped when I thought the man died after being shot!

After watching, I immediately searched for others' reactions-that's how much I enjoyed it-and was shocked to learn the main actors, especially the kids, are real-life family. No wonder their chemistry felt so genuine! I could rave all day about how refreshing it was to see kids act like kids, even in such a high-stakes scenario.

Verdict? Uncontained is a must-watch.

"Uncontained" (2025) is a horror film directed by Morley Nelson that attempts to offer a unique take on the zombie genre by focusing on character and atmosphere over action. The plot follows a drifter who becomes a reluctant guardian to two abandoned siblings during a viral outbreak. The film tries to build suspense by introducing different kinds of threats, from the infected to a ruthless militia, but it struggles to maintain a consistent tone. While the premise of the infected having partial, cyclical transformations is an interesting idea, the execution often feels sluggish. The dialogue, particularly the philosophical exchanges about humanity, comes across as forced and preachy, detracting from the genuine performances of the cast. The film's attempts to be a "thinking person's zombie movie" ultimately fall short, as the narrative meanders and the emotional payoffs feel unearned.

Is it worth watching? No. It's a tedious and uneven film that fails to live up to its own ambition.

Living in the wilderness, a man trying to protect his children from a horde of creatures roaming the area that have been reduced to a rabid, feral state is forced to stay at their house until their family arrives, which proves quite troublesome when various dangers threaten their chances.

This was a fairly enjoyable if somewhat flawed zombie effort. Among the better elements of this one is the immensely solid and overly fun setup that provides a rather intriguing take on the post-apocalyptic zombie survivor tale. Dropped into this one with the idea of the deadly outbreak having already struck society and forced mankind into pockets of survivors living in the snowy wilderness where they learn to fend for themselves all creates a strong starting point for this kind of genre effort. The focus on this one detailing the day-to-day life of the surviving kids as the guy arrives and tries to survive that includes him dealing with the intricate moments around the house taking care of the kids, keeping the property safe, and ensuring the creatures are unable to get to them which is a wholly unique touch to add to a zombie apocalypse. On top of that, there's a wholly intriguing touch here with the family dynamics being introduced with the arrival of the parent into the nix so that the interplay between the kids and the hunter gets another adult to work off of so everything makes for a generally fun time. That said, this one does have a couple of big issues with it. The main element with this one is the immensely underwhelming and general lack of action in this one. Even though there are some brief spurts where it does manage to inject some life into the proceedings with his defensive work against the zombies or the final encounter protecting them from the militia outbreak, there are not enough of these elements or even enough good ones to justify this one. It goes on far too long trying to detail him going around trying to deal with the kids and their work within the house before going back to deal with the zombies, and it's possible to forget they're out there so infrequently does it feature them. That doesn't help that there's almost nothing here about what's going on, from the reason for the plague, how the kids have survived, what the locals are doing about the creatures, even what the purpose of the militia proves, or even how the ending makes sense so it causes some big issues overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, and children-in-jeopardy.

I am reluctant to call this "horror", and I don't think the movie ever really tried to be. Instead what we get is a rather approach to the "zombie" concept that is far more a drama about humans, family and finding yourself.

Acting is good. Sound is mixed so I didn't have to turn it way up to hear conversations and then go deaf when anything else made noise (a rarity these days. Bless you, sound mixer!).

Over all I think it was a strong production, with thoughtful writing and good acting. Would recommend.

No sex or nudity. Some passionate kissing.

Mild gore If there was swearing, then I missed it.