A virtual machine runs a kernel on an virtualized CPU. Different CPU versions exist, but so long as they have the basic virtualization extensions, the hyperviser will be fine. From inside the VM, it looks like you own the CPU.

A container runs applications on a virtualized kernel (kinda). Different kernel version exist, but so long as they have the basic namespacing extensions, the container will be fine. From inside the container, it looks like you own the kernel.

It's like a chroot, but for everything. You have your own init, your own daemons, your own applications.