Containment (2015)
Gareth Jones
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Starring Louise Brealey, Lee Ross, Andrew Leung, Sheila Reid, Pippa Nixon, William Postlethwaite
Directed by Neil Mcenery-West
A normal morning quickly becomes a nightmare for the residents of Oslo Tower flats when a viral outbreak descends in Neil Mcenery-West’s British thriller Containment.
Struggling artist Mark (Ross) finds himself unable to attend an important custody hearing when he awakens to find his entire flat – both windows and doors – sealed shut with epoxy resin. With mobile communications also blocked, it seems that Mark isn’t alone in his predicament. Across the courtyard, reams of neighbours can be seen through their respective windows as they try to work out the cause of their entrapment.
The cause quickly becomes clear when a team of hazmat-suited officials erect tents in the courtyard and begin advising residents to stay calm – but calmness soon goes out the window when the fatal intervention of a sniper positioned on the roof gives clear indication that nobody will be permitted to leave of their own accord.
Shacking up with a varied group of neighbours after the thuggish Sergei (Leung) smashes his way through the wall into his apartment, Mark attempts to keep a clear head while getting to the bottom of what’s going on. When the group manage to capture one of the hazmat personnel – Hazel (Nixon) – what appears to be a ticket out instead becomes a catalyst for chaos as the building’s other residents learn of her capture… and want her for themselves.
As a low-key, tightly focused thriller, Containment proves a sufficiently compelling watch. The cast and characters are nicely varied, layered and easy to get behind – especially Ross’ turn as Mark, and Sheila Reid’s cantankerous but ultimately friendly Enid. Mcenery-West manages to keep the pacing up after initially getting things moving in very short order, starting with a realistically curious beginning as the hazmat crews arrive while residents stare inquisitively from the windows of their flats.
It doesn’t take very long before things start to go to hell, the residents more concerned with their survival and escape than whether they happen to be carrying a potentially devastating contagion that leads to respiratory seizure, blindness and organ death. Unfortunately, while Containment seems to want to be gritty and grim in the later stages, it generally fails to raise its visual palette beyond the mundane. The humdrum atmosphere works well initially, but it’s easy to tell when the film is struggling to raise its game and deliver a more concerted tone of doom.
Still, despite the somewhat routine presentation, Containment isn’t a bad little thriller at all. It isn’t inventively shot, nor is there much of a particularly standout nature about it, but it does a good job with its claustrophobic tension and pressure cooker environment while building to the inevitable chaos. A lacklustre ending lets it down, but Containment never fails to remain gripping throughout – and thus makes for a very solid pick for a rainy day spent locked indoors.
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Film
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