Film Review – Shortwave

Horror is a game of influence, and while certain directors (e.g. John Carpenter) receive a lot of attentions these days, “Shortwave” makes a different choice. Writer/director Ryan Gregory Phillips seems to be in a Shane Carruth mood for his helming debut, conjuring a style and dramatic distance that’s similar to “Primer” and “Upstream Color,” but with a decidedly more macabre intent. Perhaps this approach will be most appreciated by cinephiles, as “Shortwave” always feels just out of reach, working to summon a different form of menace with artful technique but a loose appreciation of authentic suspense. It’s a striking picture at times, and one can see Phillips is a talent in the making, but the feature always feels more interested in the visual experience, rendering the storytelling somewhat flat, even when it touches on unbearably devastating events.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com