2025's "Uncontained" was, I admit, far better than I had expected...but I wasn't expecting anything good at all, so I think that's why it surprised me. Unfortunately, it could have been so much better. There were only a few reviews at the time I saw it, and although for the most part we largely agreed, our ratings varied between not so great and 10.
This zombie-ish, thriller-ish not really horror film stars Morley Nelson, who also wrote and directed it. Now that right there is usually a really bad sign. He plays a mystery mountain man with an enviable physique and the most muscular jaw I've ever seen who wakes up in the snow looking confused. Martial law is in effect because of a mysterious virus causing people to turn into vicious, feral killing machines. No sooner than he awakes he's greeted by a toddler giggling and waving at him and then he's put down by a tranquilizer dart shot by the little girl's older brother. When he wakes up again, the man is held hostage by this 7yo boy with a toy rifle/dart gun and told he can have his gun back and leave only if he helps them with the house they're in-which is currently parent-less. This part is real muddy and took the entire movie to understand. Anyway, the kid's mother had set up a treadmill in order to juice up a battery charger for electricity and the boy is too little to do it. So the man, named Dan-Dan the Man-sticks around to help the kids out and protect them from the random feral people. As it turns out, Dan is special.
After a few days, the mother comes back. Where has she been? Well, I can't tell you without spoilers. In fact, I can't really reveal anything else at this point. But her disappearance also explains Dan's specialness as well as why he woke up in the snow in the beginning of the movie. They all briefly become a family unit...which is funny because as it turns out they ARE a family unit for real. Really saved on acting fees, huh Morley? Anyway, a creepy redneck-y hunter guy named Carson keeps harassing the mother and stalking Dan because-and this is one of a few fuzzy parts for me-his daughter is missing. And in spite of martial law, the sheriff's continued warnings and people being told to stay inside their homes because, ya know, zombies-Carson has an entire well armed POSSE who are absolutely certain that Dan is responsible. At this point of the movie, things finally pick up, but they also get nuttier.
The conclusion of the movie to me was rather unsatisfying and silly, and seemed a little too convenient. BUT, I will give Nelson credit for not going the likely and predictable route.
First, the positives: The acting, while not Oscar-worthy, was okay. The cinematography showing the gloominess/loneliness/isolation and beauty of the vastness of mountains, snow falling and whiteouts was very effective. I enjoyed the family dynamic as Dan and his the kids (and the dog) began trusting one another and becoming a unit, although I would have liked to have seen more scenes of that progression. The editing was effective and unobtrusive. The score was good in the quiet parts, but...
The bad: The score in the action and tension scenes wasn't appropriate at all. To use acoustic instruments and just strum harder on them to create drama just doesn't work. The audio was a continuous problem, where I literally had to hold the remote in my hand to constantly crank the volume up or down in order to try and hear the conversations. This went for indoor and outside shots. Seriously, watch your levels! It was not only frustrating for me, but it caused me to miss some things while concentrating on adjusting the volume. The script was quite weak and while the plot itself wasn't bad as it did put a slight change on the typical zombie/infection genre, the conversations were wooden and I didn't understand why characters spent so much time not explaining things to each other. Maybe Nelson was going for the Man of Few Words thing, but I kept talking back to my TV telling the characters to communicate with each other. I mean, eventually they got to it, but normal human communication doesn't work that way.
Overall, it's not a bad film. I didn't impatiently start looking at my phone or fast forward through it, it was shot well and like I said, having not expected anything worthwhile at all, it managed to keep me entertained for the most part, so I can't be too tough on it.
