Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Isolated

Play trailer Poster for Isolated 2022 1h 39m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A woman wakes up trapped inside a room and has no recollection of who she is or how she got there. As she fights to find a way to escape, she begins to question not only where she might be -- but also what she might be.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Isolated

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Noel Murray Los Angeles Times Viewers who hold on through the more routine parts of this picture will be rewarded. Jun 17, 2022 Full Review Tim Brennan About Boulder Tyler Lee Allen, along with his cast and crew, pulls off a twisty little story about survival and identity. Jun 21, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (4) audience reviews
Cheryl C When will I learn to trust the ratings?! This movie had a great premise. But, I couldn’t even get through the first 15 minutes. Probably the worst overacting of all time! Nothing, absolutely nothing, about this film was entertaining. Save yourself!! Just walk on by. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/24/24 Full Review Josh N Enjoyed it alot, better than expected Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/29/24 Full Review Lizzy N The movie isn't terrible, but I like these type of movies. This movie is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. First of all there's a dude watching everything on camera. The lady wakes up in a room alone with nothing but a rope and her phone with no SD Card. No surprises there, and she will have flashbacks throughout everything. Theres no explanation on the flashbacks or why she's there. The end is definitely unexpected Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/25/24 Full Review nathan z Two new Ohio-made indie films have just become available for rental or purchase both on DVD and digital streaming, and I'm here with reviews of both. Terror Trips is written and directed by Jeff Seeman (Elly) and even won the award for Best Ohio Film at the prestigious genre fest, the 2021 Nightmares Film Festival. Then there's Isolated, directed by Tyler Lee Allen and written by Michael Ferree (Poor Baby), a single-location contained thriller mystery. Both movies have their merits and both movies have their faults when it comes to developing a satisfying story. With Isolated (formerly titled O9en Up), we have a contained thriller, which means much will hinge upon the chain of discovery for survival or enlightenment. There's no shortage of people-stuck-in-mysterious-room movies. It makes sense from a production standpoint. It's cheap. I remember one movie I saw on Netflix where it was like 50 people standing at game show podiums and they had to vote one person to die every so many minutes or else one person would randomly die. There's two dozen Twilight Zone episodes about characters trying to make sense of a mysterious place they're stuck in. It's also featured in just about any Saw movie. It's an immediate mystery that can work wonders. The trick is to either string the cause-effect plot elements so that we are learning and building off that knowledge along with the protagonist or connect the clues as to what or why their encasement means for them. I enjoy survival thrillers. I included Buried on my Top Ten for 2010 and that movie is one hundred percent Ryan Reynolds inside one cramped coffin. The problem with Isolated is that the mystery doesn't feel that intriguing after about 30 minutes. The room itself looks like it should have more mystery to it, with a countdown and a giant nine painted on the wall. There's a skylight with a latch just out of reach. Our main character, Nell (KateLynn Newberry), is even given her phone, which plays a song on the regular that seems too specific to be of little insight. But what does the movie actually do with its time and mystery? At 99 minutes, you might find yourself getting a little antsy for the next reveal or clue to maintain an interest. I'm surprised the movie keeps its protagonist as such a blank. Nell seems resourceful, determined, and nursing some kind of personal pain or regret, but why is she here? Because we're not given anything direct, your mind may likely anticipate that a major twist is in store by the end, and lo it happens (I don't think the end explains the many hoops). I think the location just isn't that intriguing enough to sustain the central mystery, and because we're given few insights into this character we're sharing a cell with for a whole movie, it made me feel restless. After Act One, Nell is given a cellmate, so to speak, on the other side of her wall, Travis (Lanny Joon), and the movie becomes a two-hander, though the perfunctory dialogue exchanges sound like the screenplay is filling time. It reminded me of 12 Monkeys when Bruce Willis' character, a convict from the future sent back in time and doubting his sanity, hears a raspy voice on the other side of his wall who seems to know his dilemma. It becomes a playful and antagonistic exchange, and Willis doesn't know if there is someone on the other side of the wall or if it's all in his deteriorating mind. With Isolated, if Travis is meant to be our lifeline, it's not enough. Now in a confounding location we have a confounding character, and rather than add layers to the mystery and our understanding, it just feels like vague on top of vague in service of stretching out a running time to feature length. I don't think the twist earns the time spent, nor are the implications handled in a manner that feels satisfying or worthy. The ending reminded me of Old where for the final ten minutes M. Night Shyamalan basically says, "Okay, I'm just going to tell you everything explicitly now. Hope it's been worth it. It hasn't? Oh. Oh, okay then. Well, anyway..." As a low-budget thriller, Isolated has some nice technical merits to praise. The cinematography by Greg Kraus (The Curse of Lilith Ratchet) is very good with more than a few shots that made me nod in appreciation, like an attached camera angle to Nell running in a panic. The editing, also by Kraus, is solid and nicely integrated with the visuals. I liked the quick cut montages of awful flashbacks forcing their way inside Nell's mind. There are some neat visual tricks here for a low-budget film. The brooding musical score by TJ Wilkins (Knifecorp) does a lot of heavy lifting for the story. For both films, there is a difficulty in following through with the story direction each chooses. With Terror Trips, it's a horror movie that abandons its premise early to become a bland organ harvesting thriller with characters that are too indistinct and personality-free to care and with suspense sequences that are brief or underdeveloped. With Isolated, I went a little stir crazy from waiting for enough vital components to keep my attention and intrigue. The main character is simply not that interesting of a character to share 90 minutes with. Each movie feels padded out and undernourished where it counts with its storytelling, failing to capitalize on the promise of its plot elements. Horror and mystery fans might find enough to satiate their genre needs. Both of the movies have technical merits and agreeable acting, but it's the story and, even more specifically, the development of its characters and suspense or mystery scenarios, where they do eventually stumble. Nate's Grades: C- Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Isolated

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A woman wakes up trapped inside a room and has no recollection of who she is or how she got there. As she fights to find a way to escape, she begins to question not only where she might be -- but also what she might be.
Director
Tyler Lee Allen
Production Co
UltiMedia Production Group
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 14, 2022
Runtime
1h 39m
Most Popular at Home Now