BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION
Directed by: Jacob Gentry
Starring: Harry Shum Jr, Kelly Mack, Chris Sullivan, Michael B Woods
Set during the 1990s: James, a video archivist, discovers a strange pirate broadcast on one of the videotapes he's digitising. He soon learns that this was the first of three such "intrusions" and becomes increasingly obsessed with understanding them and the conspiracy connected to them.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a very compelling mystery which sucks you right into its story, but seems to get lost in its own narrative towards the end.
Its really interesting that this film is released in the same year that NETFLIX put out its series, "Archive 81", who's protagonist is also a video archivist who gets caught up in a strange and mysterious conspiracy. That is where the similarities end, both stories are wildly different but its interesting that stories are involving new professions for their protagonists.
James (Shum Jr) is mourning the passing of his wife, a ballerina, and trying to throw himself into his work when he comes across the strange "intrusion", involving a woman wearing a mask from a (made up) tv show called SAL.E. SPARKS. James becomes intrigued about it and finds out that there are rumoured to be two other occasions where the local television station broadcast signal was broken into.
As the film is set during the 1990s, the technology available to James isn't as advanced as it would be now. As mobile phones aren't commonplace, public payphones are still in use. The internet is still in its primitive years but James is able to locate a conspiracy message board which discusses the SAL.E Sparks incidents. As James is a video archivist he is able to utilise his audio/visual equipment to interrogate the images and makes some startling discoveries as a result.
James' journey through the film is something akin to Alice in Wonderland. This is best illustrated by a scene where James is contacted by someone with information and goes to meet him. He enters a large building which contains an antiques shop, through the back, down some stairs….then further and further ‘til you wonder hang on just how big and labyrinthine is this damn building? At the end of this trip he meets the Phreaker, who seems to have his fingers in a lot of dodgy endeavors, as we overhear a very strange conversation as James approaches.
James' obsession leads him to cross paths with a young woman called Alice (Kelly Mack), who helps him decode further parts of the SAL.E SPARKS clips, which lead on to even stranger situations and clues. However, the deeper into the conspiracy James digs, the less clear the film becomes. There are so many layers to this onion that the film is unable to give a satisfactory conclusion, just more questions and a feeling of unease that James - and the viewer - are really way over their heads.
While the narrative might end up messy, there is nothing messy about the production and technical skill involved in making this film. The cinematography by Scott Thiele is superb, the shot composition and artistic design is spot-on throughout the film. And the score, by Ben Lovett (The Signal, The Ritual) is an eclectic mix of jazz and prog rock.
THE VERDICT
Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a fascinating mystery which delivers a great scenario and seeds its clues well, so information is revealed at just the right points to keep us interested. However the script doesn't seem to have any satisfactory answers for either James or the viewer. James' obsession takes a weird turn towards the end which feels un-earned and even then, we are left with the feeling of things left unfinished.