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BEING
ISOLATED WITH KATELYNN E.
NEWBERRY AIN'T THAT BAD
by Thomas M. Sipos,
managing editor [June 6, 2022]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]Nell (KateLynn E. Newberry) awakes to find herself alone in a
strange room. It looks like a prison cell of some sort. But as she
will discover, there are no doors, only a skylight.
Where is she? How did she get here? Why is she here?
Isolated is one of those horror
films with a tiny cast that is set entirely (or mostly) in a single
room. Of its 99 minutes, the first 80 occur solely in Nell's cell. All
that time we see only Nell, apart from a few glimpses of the man
(David Solomon) who brought her here, and an offscreen voice (Lanny
Joon) from a neighboring cell.
Cube is the best, and the most original, of "people trapped in
a strange room" films.
Saw is the most famous. Human Zoo
one of the worst. Each brings its variations to the subgenre. The
idiots in Human Zoo volunteered to
become trapped in their rooms.
The victims in
Cube and
Saw discovered they had tasks to perform for some unknown person.
So what is Nell's task? At first I expected torture porn, but
thankfully, Isolated is not
Saw. Halfway through the film I thought Nell might be dead and in
Hell. I detected hints in that direction. Flashbacks to bloody hands.
(Did Nell slit her wrists?) Hellish red light from an apparently
supernatural grate. (Hey, there was an air duct there just a moment
ago.) Cryptic remarks from the neighboring prisoner.
In the end, the explanation wasn't entirely original, but it was
surprising. Nell isn't in Hell, but neither is her situation typical.
And there were hints along the way.
Isolated is Newberry's film to
carry and she does so superbly. She effectively conveys a range of
shifting emotions -- fear, anguish, trauma, anger, grit, courage,
compassion -- that make Nell into a
compelling protagonist. The end credits list five actors, but two
of them aren't actually in the film; they only appear in prop photos
(one of them is cinematographer Greg Kraus's daughter.) This is really
a three-actor film, and of the three, it's mostly Newberry.
Isolated never felt boring or
claustrophobic, despite its story being limited mostly to one room.
Credit scripter Michael Ferree for giving Nell enough busywork and
discoveries in her cell to maintain our interest. Providing Nell with
the foil of a mysterious voice in the neighboring cell (friend or
foe?) was also a good choice.
Limiting locations and cast is a common way to keep production costs
low. The challenge is to provide a compelling story with characters
who
engage our interest. Ferree's script and Newberry's performance
succeed on that score. The production design (Tyler Lee Allen, who
also directed) and cinematography are also good.
Isolated is not especially unique
or memorable, but it's competently made and entertaining.
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