Confined has some fun moments in which James improvises ways to help himself using the very limited items he has at hand – his clothes and shoes, at first. His efforts occasionally bring to mind those old PC-based adventure games in which puzzles were solved using and combining items in creative (and usually implausible) ways. The cleverest and most satisfying choice by writer Anthony Algiers and Peter Algiers is to play up this “what-would-you-do” aspect of the narrative as much as they can.
Unfortunately, though, the script really misses the mark in a lot of other areas. James talks to himself a lot, which is understandable, but it never builds solid characterization or reveals his inner thoughts. Instead, the device mostly serves to monotonously telegraph everything he does. Even worse, the third act uncorks a plot twist that isn’t really set up in any meaningful way up to that point. The twist itself is actually not so bad an idea, but it’s executed in a way that feels as if it was made up on the spot.
“…has some fun moments…”
It also represents a wild tonal shift from somewhat lighthearted to far more dark and disturbing, and nobody on-screen or off is up to the task of making it seem believable. Of course, the one thing that wasn’t restricted or constrained during quarantine was free time. As such, the movie would have been better had all involved taken more time to flesh out their ideas before rolling the camera.
But, again, time spent making films is surely never time wasted, and the production of Confined was no doubt a good learning experience for Algiers and his (ugh) “quaran-team” of collaborators. Now that lockdowns are (fingers crossed) a thing of the past, hopefully, they’ll be able to build on this foundation and take things to the next level. As it stands, the thriller is average but shows promise.
"…shows promise."
