A look at a dystopian near future, 2019’s White Chamber takes us to the United Kingdom. Beset by civil war, the authoritarian government works overtime to suppress all opposition.

Along the way, Dr. Elle Chrysler (Shauna Macdonald) finds herself imprisoned. Stuck in an unnervingly white cell, she needs to deal with her new situation.

The room acts to torture her and wheedle information out of Dr. Chrysler – information she claims she doesn’t possess. This situation leads to tension as Elle tries to cope with her circumstances.

That synopsis makes Chamber sound more like a pure cat and mouse story than it is. After the first act, we get a flashback that complicates the plot in a substantial manner.

Unfortunately, the surprises and character curveballs don’t add up to much. A thriller with little zing, the movie’s twists offer marginal intrigue but they never deliver much of interest.

Much of the problem comes from the film’s execution, as Chamber seems bound and determined to squash any potential drama. While the opening interrogation of Elle seems like it should terrify, Macdonald overacts so relentlessly that any impact dissipates.

Once we indulge in the flashback, matters don’t improve. As Elle’s antagonist, Oded Fehr chews almost as much scenery as Macdonald, and the shift away from the one-on-one battle of wits robs the tale of much drama.

A more creative screenwriter would’ve found a way to avoid the many lulls we discover here. Unfortunately, once Chamber loses its basic conceit of the interrogation, it seems unfocused and semi-pointless.

Ultimately, Chamber becomes a silly, overwrought exercise, which feels like a shame. The basic premise offers potential but the end result lacks purpose and impact.

White Chamber appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image seemed good but not great.

General definition worked fine. The image rarely showed terrific delineation but it didn’t suffer from substantial softness, either.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Print flaws also remained absent.

Colors tended toward the bland side of the street, as teal and whites dominated. These choices suited the project but they still seemed lackluster.

Blacks seemed fairly deep and dense, while low-light shots presented reasonable clarity. Nothing here excelled but the image was more than watchable.

Don’t expect a lot from the low-key DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Chamber, as it offered a restricted affair. The soundscape lacked much room for pizzazz, as outside of a few brief war-related elements, the mix stayed ambient in nature.

This meant the movie’s score used the five channels in a decent manner, as the moody music spanned around the room. Effects mostly focused on a rumbling hum, so beyond those rare war segments, the soundfield didn’t do much.

Audio quality worked fine, as speech appeared natural and concise. Music lacked much range but the score seemed smooth and well-rendered within its scope.

As noted, effects failed to do much here, but they remained accurate within their low-key boundaries. This became a passable mix for a movie without strong auditory demands.

The disc opens with ads for Level 16, Mega Time Squad, Await Further Instructions and The Dark. We also find the trailer for Chamber but no other extras appear.

Based on its cat-and-mouse concept, White Chamber offers the potential to become a lively psychological thriller. Unfortunately, it suffers from flawed execution and iffy acting. The Blu-ray brings generally positive picture and audio but it lacks supplements. The film ends up as a forgettable banality.