Phase 7 opens with young couple Coco (Daniel Hendler) and Pipi (Jazmin Stuart) grocery shopping. As they leave the store, they are oblivious to the throngs of people heading into the market. Pipi is quite pregnant, and she has issues with the fact that Coco is a lazy slacker. Once back at their apartment, they learn from the TV news that there has been an outbreak of a highly contagious disease, and citizens are urged to stay home. Not long after this, government officials come by to inform the tenants of the apartment complex that their building has been quarantined. Zanutto (Federico Luppi), a high-strung man, is clearly bothered by this, but Horacio (Yayo Guridi) takes it in stride. Trapped in their apartment, Coco and Pipi try to make the best of the time, reading and playing board games. But, as supplies begin to run out, it becomes clear that their neighbors may be very desperate and dangerous people.

It's not unusual for foreign films to take an idea which is familiar to Western audiences and add a different or culturally influenced slant to it. And, at the outset, that appears to be exactly what the Argentinean Phase 7 is going to do. The film approaches the well-known pandemic idea, which has been explored in films like Outbreak and the recent Contagion, and shrinks it down to one apartment. And in this apartment live a couple who don’t always get along. Although we don’t get a lot of evidence to support this, Pipi appears to be a Type A. Coco is clearly a Type B, as he can’t even be bothered to test the light bulbs before they buy them at the market. He has a penchant for heavy metal t-shirts and clearly shirks responsibility. When they learn that they are quarantined, Coco jumps into action, making an inventory of all of their food. Still there are things which he misses and this leads to some humorous moments, most notably his solution to the light-bulb issue.

The film comes Nicolas Goldbart who is making his debut as a writer/director. His previous work had been in editing, which I find interesting, as the pace in Phase 7 gets a little slack at times. Overall, he’s done a fine job shooting the movie, but one shot near the end, which is clearly meant to fill us with dread, doesn’t work as the angle is all wrong. Composer Guillermo Guareschi was clearly influenced by John Carpenter, as much of the score sounds just like the music from Escape from New York.

Phase 7 taught me that they have Froot Loops in Argentina on DVD courtesy of Vivendi Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing on distracting grain and no defects from the source material. The film’s opening demonstrates how great the colors are, most notably reds and greens. The image is never overly dark or bright. The picture does get a bit soft at times, but there is very little noise or artifacting. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track for both the Spanish and English tracks. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This is an interesting track, as the effects grow during the film. The first act is rather quiet, but during the third act, when shots are being fired, we really feel the impact of the surround sound and subwoofer effects.

The only extras on the Phase 7 DVD are three DELETED SCENES which run about 9 minutes. The bulk of this is taken up by an extended scene from the second act which show how the pressure of the situation is putting a strain on Coco and Pipi's relationship.