Woods), and additional figures played by Chris Sullivan, Richard Cotovsky and Justin Welborn. One of the first people he tracks down in this quest is a media studies professor (Steven Pringle), who has met his like before, and cautions him against “falling down a rabbit hole you can’t climb out of.” Nonetheless, James pushes on, despite this pursuit’s escalating negative impact on his employment, mental health and physical safety.Īmong fellow travelers met en route are a fellow retro-tech geek (Arif Yampolsky), a man apparently driven mad by this same wild goose chase (Michael B. James becomes obsessed with finding the supposed “Night Pirate” responsible for what another AV enthusiast calls the “creepiest unsolved mystery hack of all time” - particularly once he realizes they may be tied to the vanishing of several women, including Hannah. He realizes this was one of two, possibly three such bizarre “broadcast intrusions” since 1987, which were investigated by the FCC and FBI without their perp ever being identified. But one night a random news-program tape is interrupted by a strange figure speaking unintelligibly while wearing a plastic mask and wig, something very like the disturbing dreams he’s had of late. Now, his sole regular human interaction is attending a support group for other people grieving long-missing loved ones. It’s a solitary job that complements the loner lifestyle he had since his dancer wife Hannah disappeared three years ago. James (Shum) is an AV tech geek in 1999 Chicago, working the graveyard shift in a basement archive, logging old TV broadcast videos for posterity. The SXSW-premiering feature will be a viable item for home format sales theatrical prospects are slimmer. chasing down a possible link between the titular phenomenon and his wife’s disappearance. As long as the promise outweighs the frustrating lack of payoff, however, it’s an intriguing and atmospheric puzzle, with “Glee” star Harry Shum Jr. I only remember how those titles made me feel - the overwhelming cynicism and the individual under the shadow of something much larger.It’s tricky to pull off the kind of cryptic mystery labyrinth that “ Broadcast Signal Intrusion” attempts, and Jacob Gentry’s film only works to a point - whatever point at which the viewer decides this thriller’s elusive menace is just too vague to generate sufficient urgency or suspense. I don’t remember a single thing about the main characters in Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, or The Conformist. But he doesn’t need depth, and he doesn’t deserve the story. Screenwriters Tim Woodall and Phil Drinkwater tie the narrative to a needless backstory for James, which exists, I guess, in an attempt to give him depth and make the whole story about him. ![]() Nothing is scarier or more shocking than what your imagination can conceive. As with most mysteries or conspiracies, the more you uncover, the less interesting they get. Where Broadcast Signal Intrusion slips up is with its increasing attention to the plot. For the first 30 minutes or so, the tone and the pieces in place give the movie every opportunity to be a bad dream that sticks to the side of your brain like a sock in a washing machine. It’s all very on-the-nose but in a knowing way. As the breadcrumbs lead him to a series of unsavory character actors, none quite as scene-stealing as a Sydney Greenstreet or a Sterling Hayden, the soundtrack is laden with lonesome horns and eerie piano flourishes. James’ world is a melancholic and deterministic series of false choices. What director Jacob Gentry gets mostly right is the tone. “… he pops in some old VHS tapes and stumbles across something unsettling…” As James grinds out an ordinary life, all it takes is this small taste of the unordinary to bring out his inner Alex Jones, cry conspiracy, and let slip the bloodhounds of war. Cut into the middle of the sitcom is footage of someone in an expressionless mask speaking modulated gibberish and vomiting black gunk. In his spare time, he pops in some old VHS tapes and stumbles across something unsettling: a sitcom from the early ’90s. James ( Harry Shum Jr.) is an antisocial A/V apartment-dweller who squeaks out a living by repairing cameras, TVs, and other consumer electronics. ![]() Broadcast Signal Intrusion is another foray into - let’s call it acid noir. ![]() Think of the recent Under the Silver Lake, Disappearance at Clifton Hill, or the memorable Long Day’s Journey Into Night. It’s light on tough-guy talk and femme fatales but heavy on amateur detectives and disorienting mysteries. SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2021 REVIEW! There’s a style of noir that’s been popping up lately in the indie rotation.
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