SXSW 2021: BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION Review – A Suspenseful Trip into the Horrors of the Unknown
Starring: Harry Shum Jr., Kelley Mack, and Steven Pringle
Written by: Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall
Directed by: Jacob Gentry
I went into Broadcast Signal Intrusion with nearly no idea what it was about. Knowing that it was helmed by The Signal co-director Jacob Gentry was enough to get me on board. And once again, Gentry has proven himself a competent filmmaker. The flick is gripping, suspenseful, atmospheric, and intense. It’s something of a slow burn creeper laced with horror elements. The horror is, more or less, in the main character’s descent into total madness as he searches for answers but keeps finding more questions.
Synopsis: Set in the late ‘90s, Broadcast Signal Intrusion follows James (Harry Shum Jr.), an archivist converting television footage from VHS to disc. In the process of doing so, James comes across a pirate broadcast interruption that may be connected to the disappearance of multiple women. The more James digs, the deeper down the rabbit hole he goes.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a mysterious noir thriller that operates with the mantra: less is more. The film never gives the viewer the full scope of what’s happening, keeping its audience engaged with just enough information to stay invested. We almost come away from the flick knowing less than we did when we started.
High levels of ambiguity can be a gamble. You run the risk of alienating your viewer when you don’t share enough information with them. But in this case, it works (for the most part). I came away from the film quite curious. If a movie gets under my skin and makes me think about the events depicted after the credits roll, I usually consider it highly effective. With that said, it is possible to share too little with your audience and Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a case where any additional information would have been welcome. While the narrative is largely driven by the unknown, some viewers may come away wishing there had been a bit more substance to the denouement.
On the subject of ambiguity, the level of tension generated by existing in a constant state of uncertainty does create a sense of palpable tension from early in the film’s runtime and that is sustained throughout. The mystery of the pirate signal’s origin and lack of insight into its purpose (as well as the suggestion that the signal interruption could relate to the disappearance of James’ wife) only served to make me more curious. Director Jacob Gentry delivers a sense of heightened paranoia that quickly put me in the mind of the character. James is broken from the loss of his wife but also from the lack of closure surrounding her death. Her body was never recovered and he is plagued by the horror of not knowing.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion puts me in the mind of what it might be like if David Fincher remade Videodrome without the body horror element. The suspense and unpredictability are reminiscent of a Fincher film with a storyline that can’t help but call for comparisons to the Cronenberg staple. Jacob Gentry doesn’t reach the prowess of celebrated directors like Cronenberg or Fincher but this is, nonetheless, a gripping and suspenseful film.
My only criticism, aside from the overly ambiguous nature of the ending is that there is very little in the way of any kind of character development. That was a deliberate decision to keep in line with the film’s all-around ambiguity where we’re sure of nothing. But I can’t help but think that getting a glimpse beneath the surface may have made James an even more compelling lead. Harry Shum Jr’s performance is strong enough to keep things afloat exactly as it stands. But I would have liked to have gotten a better sense of who James is at his core.
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Broadcast Signal Intrusion
Summary
Broadcast Signal Intrusion is equal parts suspenseful and intriguing. I only wish the film had left its audience with fewer questions and more answers.
