'Confinement' Review
Release Date: 09/01/26 [VOD]
Genre: Horror. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution.
The Verdict: A Mistake
I know many horror movies wouldn’t exist if the characters knew horror movie history. However, we need an official narrative moratorium on these vulnerable, kind-hearted women traveling miles and miles to luxurious estates with so few questions about what's going on. I would even be willing to let things slide if there was a scene where our lead at least goes to the library or something and Googles the name of the aristocratic family that they’re either marrying into or meeting for the first time. There has never been a time in movie history where traveling unquestioningly has gone well. It doesn’t even go well in comedies--ask Gaylord Focker.
Our very pregnant, widowed main character in the new horror film Confinement clearly hasn't seen Get Out, Ready or Not, or any of the many other iterations of the “outsider meets creepy family” template that have come out in the last 15 years. This isn’t even the first time that Nathalie Emmanuel has played a woman who has gone through a situation like this, having fought off bloodthirsty relatives in 2022’s vampire flick The Invitation. That film is perfect company for Confinement, as both are lackluster horror films with build-ups that run far too long and conclusions that are woefully underwhelming.
There is one key difference between the two--they actually spent money to give The Invitation a visual style of any sort, and the same cannot be said for Confinement. To be fair, Confinement is not a theatrical release and will likely not attract much attention as it becomes available to own or rent for home audiences. It is a streaming movie in every sense of the word, with an easy-to-remember concept, a recognizable TV star, and a very confined setting. There certainly is no falsehood in the title of Confinement, as Emmanuel spends much of the final two-thirds of the film not only in the same house, but in the same room as she tries to survive her insidious in-laws.
Stella (Emmanuel) knows nothing about the Cadell family. Her husband Ian (Adam Woodward) separated himself from them years ago and lives with Stella in a U.K. suburb, but the stress of Stella’s pregnancy and the burdens of a dark secret lead him to a terrible fate. Four months after his untimely death, Ian’s mother Caroline (Claire Forlani) shows up on Stella’s doorstep. At this point, Stella’s about to burst, and Caroline invites her to the countryside to meet the rest of the family. Everyone shows a fair amount of compassion at first, though it’s clear things aren't perfect. Ian’s brother Bunny (Charlie Hiscock, best known as Will Kitman from Ted Lasso) can’t even make it to noon without a glass of the good stuff. Ian’s sister Lake (Eloise Lovell Anderson) dresses like a Kardashian and is in a very contentious marriage with her husband Felix (Ben Cura). And why does elderly “Granno” (Tina Gray) keep insisting that Stella scarf down some fish and sleep with little makeshift tokens by her bedside?
To spoil what exactly the Cadell’s family deal is would be to spoil the only intrigue that this very dull, very slow movie has to offer. I will say it sniffs the supernatural, making the connection to Ready or Not even stronger than it may have been before. Even before things get really dangerous, there are several red flags that Stella either misses or shoos away way too fast, like the baby shower ritual that involves the dropping of a dead bug on her stomach, or the warnings of fellow pregnant cousin Rose. She’s played by Angela Sant’Albano, who is not a well-known actress but had some really good scenes opposite Marisa Abela in the third season of Industry. Here in her brief moments, she stands out immensely as someone who can, at the very least, carry a scene with her presence, which is something that we take for granted in a lot of major productions but becomes glaringly apparent in a film with as low a production value as this one.
That same level of presence applies to Emmanuel, who has shone in supporting roles in the Game of Thrones and Fast & Furious franchises but still struggles to find a starring vehicle worthy of her talents. Much like The Invitation, she plays distress relatively well, but the script gives her absolutely nothing to do besides scream and problem-solve. There’s not even any real sitting in her grief, which is something that these horror movies usually overdo. Confinement doesn’t even have enough interest in that part of the affair, nor is it interested in the optics of this black woman facing immense terror and pressure from her white and old-school English extended family.
Confinement is directed by Peter Howitt. All of his most famous credits lean comedic, whether it's Gwyneth Paltrow’s Sliding Doors or Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English. You would think that would mean Confinement at least has a sense of humor, whether in the absurdity of the situation or the creativity of the eventual kills. Unfortunately, that's not the case, which leaves the viewer with little to work with. Your knowledge of Confinement and your interest in it should be confined to this review.
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