Quarantine

Quarantine

Year: 2008

Runtime: 89 min

Language: English

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Budget: $12M

Sci-FiDramaMysteryThriller

While spending a night at a Los Angeles fire station to do a TV report, a reporter and her cameraman discover a disturbing outbreak in a nearby apartment building. Residents are viciously attacked, and the pair find themselves trapped with a group of desperate survivors. Cut off from the outside world, they struggle to survive while questioning the silence and unsettling actions of the CDC. They must uncover the truth behind the mysterious outbreak and fight to escape.

Quarantine (2008) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Quarantine (2008) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In the restless heat of Los Angeles, a nighttime assignment places a television reporter at an almost forgotten fire station, its corridors echoing with the low hum of old equipment and the distant wail of sirens. Angela Vidal arrives with her trusted cameraman, a pair bound by professional ambition and a shared curiosity about the city’s hidden corners. The station, a temporary haven bathed in flickering fluorescent light, feels like a backstage to an unfolding drama that promises more than a routine segment.

Beyond the station’s walls, an apartment complex nearby becomes the epicenter of an unsettling disturbance. Rumors of a sudden, inexplicable outbreak swirl through the streets, while the usual channels of authority—most notably the CDC—remain oddly silent, heightening the sense of isolation. A small, disparate group of residents and first‑responders find themselves cut off from the outside world, forced to confront an enigmatic threat that turns ordinary spaces into claustrophobic traps.

Scott Percival moves with a steady focus, his camera a silent witness to the growing tension. Together, Angela and Scott navigate a precarious balance between documenting the crisis and becoming part of it, their professional rapport tested by the creeping dread that pervades every hallway. The firefighters they encounter bring a gritty, street‑wise perspective, adding layers of camaraderie and underlying urgency to the already charged atmosphere.

The film’s tone is a slow‑burning mix of urban horror and psychological suspense, where the neon‑lit cityscape becomes a character in its own right—beautiful yet foreboding. As the night deepens, the characters must rely on wits, fragile alliances, and an uneasy trust in one another while the truth behind the mysterious contagion remains just out of reach, inviting the audience to linger in the unsettling space between curiosity and fear.

Last Updated: August 10, 2025 at 09:07

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Found Footage Survival Horror Movies Like Quarantine

First-person perspectives of ordinary people fighting for survival against overwhelming threats.If the visceral, first-person terror of Quarantine gripped you, explore more found footage survival horror movies. These films place you directly in the action, using shaky cameras and a documentary aesthetic to create an intense, realistic, and deeply unsettling viewing experience.

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Claustrophobic Outbreak Thrillers Similar to Quarantine

Stories of groups trapped in confined spaces during a horrific, contagious outbreak.For viewers who enjoyed the trapped-in-a-building terror of Quarantine, this section features similar claustrophobic outbreak thrillers. These movies focus on the psychological and physical horror of being sealed in with a contagious, madness-inducing threat, where the walls close in as quickly as the infection spreads.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a group of people becoming trapped in a single location—a building, bunker, or vehicle—as a mysterious and violent outbreak occurs. The plot focuses on their desperate attempts to understand the threat, survive each other, and escape, often culminating in a bleak realization of their hopeless situation.

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These films are united by their core premise: confinement during a biological crisis. They share a mood of intense paranoia, claustrophobia, and the visceral fear of infection, exploring how people break down under extreme pressure in an inescapable environment.

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Quarantine Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Quarantine

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