Uncontained

I realize that some people won't be able to get past the lower budget, simple location. I think story trumps those details every time. Acting is better than I would expect. Well produced, directed, and acted, considering. My wife and I really enjoyed it. Since I have to include more to make it to the requirements for the review. I will simply copy and paste what I have already written.

I realize that some people won't be able to get past the lower budget, simple location. I think story trumps those details every time. Acting is better than I would expect. Well produced, directed, and acted, considering. My wife and I really enjoyed it. Since I have to include more to make it to the requirements for the review. I will simply copy and paste what I have already written.

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.

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.

I love zombie movies but they're often predictable and follow the same old tropes. Uncontained breaks the mold and gives us new concepts and dangers to consider. I really loved this fresh take on a rotting genre!

The mystery of the Man is slowly unfolding when we get more questions about the children he meets and where are their parents?

Uncontained opens up slowly, layer by layer, and by the time you think you know where it's going, you're neck deep in uncharted waters.

I love indie horror movies with a single location and small cast because it's all about the story and characters, not a bunch of extras dying and huge explosions.

Uncontained has interesting characters and new ideas about the "zombie" concept. I highly recommend it.

Well, the fact that the 2025 movie "Uncontained" was starring, written by and directed by Morley Nelson was cause for alarm, as movies with one person behind everything tend to be tedious and questionable affairs.

But I still opted to check out the movie, as the title was interesting and the synopsis sounded fairly interesting.

However, the movie was anything but interesting. This movie was pure torture to sit through. In fact, I ended up tossing the towel in the ring after 55 minutes of excruciating boredom. It was clear that the movie would never pick up its pacing or start to prove interesting. Writer Morley Nelson failed to piece together anything even remotely entertaining or enjoyable here.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, which was one of the only things that worked in favor of the movie. But I have to say that I just didn't care about anything in the movie, so the acting performances shrugged off me like water on Teflon.

This is not a movie that I would recommend you to waste 99 minutes on watching. Nor is it a movie that I will ever return to and attempt finish watching. I just simply didn't care one bit about the pointless and monotonous storyline, nor did I have any interest in the cardboard cut-outs that passed for characters in the movie.

As for "Uncontained" being a horror movie? Well, I suppose if boredom in its purest and undiluted form counts as horror, then you're in for quite a treat.

My rating of this 2025 movie lands on a generous one out of ten stars.