QUARANTINE-19 (2022)

3 stars

Trinity Content Partners. Digital. Out Now

Aka Corontina 19

Here’s a terror from Turkey. It was co-written by Bilal Kalyoncu the director of The Final Party – which I also reviewed recently – alongside Koray Yeltekin and the director Can Sarcan. It also shares some of the same actors from that film. It opens with a woman running through empty city streets. She collapses and can’t get up. The film will circle back to this scene later…

Set during a pandemic – there are news reports from around the world. The vaccine hasn’t worked.

We are introduced to our characters – various folks from different countries. Alvaro (Kaan Yilmaz), Koray (Melih Degirmenci), Victoria (Ayse Akin), Dominic (Selçuk Yapar), Noah (Allen Stewart), Mia (Özüm Çakir), Ethan (Adem Yilmaz) and Jessica (Michelle Deniz Rinehart). They are taking part in a competition, and are in a house isolated from the world, with various surprises as they work towards the million dollar prize money. Cameras a la Big Brother. They are unaware of what is happening on the outside, with millions dying. Soon we witness in-fighting and shouting at each other in the house – and some execrable acting. Annoying angry characters.

When they realise that the cameras are no longer working and there is nobody in the studio, they get out the house, which is a set and reach the newsroom, which is when they realise that a virus has swept around the world, whilst they have been bitching for the TV audience, most of which are probably now dead!

There’s the germ of a good idea here, it’s just a shame it’s not very well realised. It reminded me of that Charlie Brooker TV mini series DEAD SET (2008), which had a zombie apocalypse instead of a Covid style illness. Everything is a bit frantic and you don’t really care about any of the people involved. The plot falls apart in the last third and gets more and more ridiculous – and then there’s the ending or should I say several endings… none of which really tie things up.

Steve Kirkham