Nerdly » ‘Quarantine-19’ VOD Review

03rd Dec2025

‘Quarantine-19’ VOD Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Ayse Akin, Adem Yilmaz, Özüm Çakir, Kaan Yilmaz, Melih Degirmenci, Selçuk Yapar, Michelle Deniz Rinehart, Allen Stewart | Written by Bilal Kalyoncu, Can Sarcan, Koray Yeltekin | Directed by Can Sarcan

Part of Turkey’s contribution to the slew of quarantine-inspired films that emerged during the Covid-19 period (with the “19” in the title leaving little to the imagination), Quarantine-19 sees eight strangers sign up for a life-changing reality TV show, cutting off all communication from the outside world as they enter an isolated house. However, strange occurrences unexpectedly force the contestants back out into the real world, unaware of the horrors that will soon befall them. Little did they know that while they were cut off from the world, a deadly virus swept the globe and now, the powerless participants must enter a decaying new world of infection and disease.

The script is dialled up to eleven and the performances are right there with it – though in the Big Brother-style house setting, that kind of hyperactive cringe almost feels like part of the charm. But then the dubbing crashes in – even though it looks like the actors are speaking English. Hey, maybe their accent was TOO predominant, but that feels unlikely when you hear the non-dubbed performances. But whatever the reason, the dubbing is clunky enough to derail whole scenes. It yanks you out of the film so hard you practically need whiplash insurance – it also ruins whatever tension director Can Sarcan tries to build!

Well, “building tension” might be giving him too much credit – what he’s really doing is leaning hard on a soundtrack that ends up being the film’s unexpected MVP. Haunting synths, a pulse-like drumline, and a sense of atmosphere the script can only dream of… It’s the score that actually keeps the blood pumping. Then Sarcan ruins it by having his actors shout and scream at each other like idiots! Though again, that does fit with the “rats trapped in a cage” motif that permeates the film’s early going.

We’re barely fifteen minutes in before the reality-TV guinea pigs decide they’ve had enough and bust out of the set – sparked by missing food deliveries, cameras that have mysteriously stopped tracking them, and just enough vague weirdness to almost hint that something’s off with the show they’ve signed up for. Then comes the jailbreak: one contestant casually picks the lock to the exit… because, of course, the guy who’s supposedly from Colombia (with the completely wrong accent) just happens to keep lock picks tucked inside the crucifix around his neck. Convenient? Absolutely. Subtle? Not even close.

At its core, the concept is killer: a pack of reality-TV wannabes sealed in a house while the outside world crumbles under a deadly virus. That’s a hook you can do wonders with. But the logic? Wobbly at best. You’d think someone – a producer, a runner, literally any living human – would clue them in or crack the door open. Quarantine-19 dodges that glaring issue by making its virus absurdly super-transmittable, to the point where one contestant, Ethan, gets infected mere seconds after sharing a room with the unlucky infected. Subtle pandemic storytelling this is not.

Quarantine-19 even name-drops the original outbreak as a coronavirus, only here it mutates into an insta-killer so aggressive that total lockdown becomes the only option. It’s basically aiming for REC meets Covid-19 – and on paper, that mash-up is genuinely exciting. But once again, the execution faceplants, taking a killer concept and burying it under clumsy storytelling and a complete lack of finesse. Oh, and seriously… what the ACTUAL f**k is going on with this film deciding to literally crucify cast members via a random religious survivalist cult?!

Ultimately, by the time this thing finally limps to the end, you’ll probably be as f**king mad at it as I was. It’s SO bad it made me genuinely hate the film, and trust me, it takes a lot to push me that far. But throw in fake-out endings, including one that outright mocks the Covid lockdowns, and yeah… that’ll do it!