Confinement – Movie Review (3/5)

CONFINEMENT is a psychological thriller from the UK, and it’s out on VOD in the US now. The movie has Claire Forlani and Nathalie Emmanuel leading a wonderful cast. Admittedly, I was a little unimpressed when it first began, but it grew on me and is a definite recommendation to watch. Read our full Confinement movie review here!

CONFINEMENT is out on VOD now, and this is the kind of psychological thriller that works much better than I expected. Based on the trailer, I wasn’t sure it would be as entertaining as it is. Maybe because the trailer appeared to show a very different version of the plot than what it actually delivers.

In my experience, this was a much more character-driven movie than the trailer let on. Also, the cast is truly magnificent and has just the right amount of quirky characters to keep you engaged. One minute, they’re acting in ways that will surprise or shock you; the next, they’re doing something weird to make you laugh and put your guard down. Always a winner for me in any genre film, as this makes whatever comes next hit harder.

Continue reading our Confinement movie review below. Find it on VOD now.

Pregnant and Alone

Confinement opens with a pregnant Stella (Nathalie Emmanuel), whom we meet on the night she loses her husband. She is now a pregnant widower, with no family, and while she has friends, she is very much alone. Her husband never talked about his family, but appeared to want nothing to do with them, so Stella doesn’t know them. She doesn’t even know about them.

This is about to change when Caroline (Claire Forlani) shows up on her doorstep. She has lost touch with her son, but never stopped hoping he would return to the family. After reading his obituary in the paper, she learned of his expectant wife and turns up to welcome her to the family.

As a result, in a roundabout way, Stella ends up being taken in by her late husband’s estranged family. In the “summer cottage” (which is a straight-up mansion), she spends the last few days of her pregnancy. However, it doesn’t take long before it becomes obvious that their generosity is mixed with something deeply unsettling.

Is the family crazy, cursed, or something third? And can Stella get away before she discovers the answer?!

Such a wonderful cast

As much as I ended up enjoying the plot and storyline of Confinement, I’m not sure it would’ve worked as well with another cast. This cast is simply perfect for the very “special” kinds of characters we’re introduced to as the story evolves.

Most important for the core plot are Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones, The Invitation) and Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black, All the Good Ones Get Away) as the expecting mother and paternal grandmother, respectively. These two work extremely well together. No matter which wild direction the story goes next.

We also meet another pregnant woman, Rose, who is portrayed by Angela Sant’Albano. We recently reviewed the horror-satire Namaslay, where she was really good as well.

Also in the Cadell Family, which Stella unwittingly married into, are some truly gorgeous characters. “Granno” is the paternal grandmother, which means she’s also the mother-in-law of Claire Forlani’s character. And yes, Granno is very special and extremely entertaining, which is both thanks to the script and the stellar performance by Tina Gray (Apartment 7A). She makes so much of the overall plot feel realistic, even as it gets crazy!

Other family members include Charlie Hiscock (Red Rose, Ted Lasso) as Bunny and Eloise Lovell Anderson (The Bastard Executioner) as Lake. These two are the siblings of Stella’s late husband, and both deliver some very memorable moments, in very different ways.

On a personal note, I have to mention that Eloise Lovell Anderson reminded me a lot of my fellow Dane, the always amazing Stephanie Corneliussen (Mr. Robot), who Nathalie Emmanuel co-starred with in The Invitation. Just a fun coincidence, but it made me think of that quite overlooked vampire movie, which deserved a lot more recognition than it got.

Watch Confinement on VOD now

Confinement is directed by British actor and filmmaker Peter Howitt. He previously directed diverse movies such as the 1998 rom-com Sliding Doors, the 2001 crime thriller Antitrust, and the 2003 slapstick spy comedy Johnny English. He’s directed a lot more movies than those, but these certainly stood out to me. It also explains why he got the comedic timing down so amazingly in Confinement, which is by no means a comedy!

Will Honley and April Maguire wrote the screenplay for this new psychological thriller. You may be familiar with Will Honley’s work from Bloodline (2018) or Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. Also written by him and his Confinement co-writer, April Maguire, is the 2024 movie Subservience starring Megan Fox, which I did not care for.

Confinement is released as a direct-to-VOD thriller, but I assure you that it is actually better than much of what makes it to a theatrical release. This was close to getting a 4 out of 5 rating, but the opening of the movie just has too much of a TV movie feel, so we’re staying at 3. Just trust me when I tell you that it doesn’t last long. For most of its runtime, this is a high-quality production and a very entertaining movie.

If you’re pregnant, you may want to skip it, though.

Confinement is out on VOD from September 1, 2026.

Details

Director: Peter Howitt
Writers: Will Honley, April Maguire
Stars: Nathalie Emmanuel, Claire Forlani, Tina Gray, Charlie Hiscock, Eloise Lovell Anderson, Adam Woodward, Henri Brugère, Ben Cura