The ghost of toxic masculinity haunts this techno horror-mystery from Jacob Gentry.
★★★★✰
The film form is of interest to many genre filmmakers. Scott Derrickson put it to truly horrific use in 2012’s Sinister, in which a demonic entity possesses small children and makes them kill their family, while also forcing the child to film the murders on a camcorder. Just last year, Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor embodied the video nasty era of the 1980s as it followed a woman on her quest to find her missing sister, using different cameras as she furthered her descent into madness. And now we can add Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion to this disconcerting list.
Gentry’s film follows video archivist James (an excellent, understated Harry Shum Jr) as he unearths a fascinating, horrifying conspiracy of broadcast signal intrusions in the 1980s and 90s that may or may not be connected to his missing wife. It’s a film that leans more towards mystery than horror, but it’s undoubtedly an unsettling, ultimately devastating watch.
The minutiae of BSI are difficult to discuss without delving into spoiler territory, because much of what makes the film work is in its last ten minutes. However, there is still much of Gentry’s strange film to unpick. The performances, to begin with, are more than solid. Shum Jr is the standout as James: a purposefully blank slate, guided to explore the BSIs first by boredom, then, by grief and rage. He’s a distinctly masculine man – not in an Arnie sort of way, but in the sort of way that means he’s cold, quiet, emotionless. It’s this state that leads into the film’s exploration of its ultimate theme: masculinity.
Supporting Shum Jr are Kelley Mack as Alice, a woman who joins him in his investigation, Steve Pringle as Dr Stuart Lithgow, FCC bureau chief who tries to dissuade James from pressing further, and Chris Sullivan and Justin Wellborn in roles best left unsaid. All are stellar. Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall’s script may be a tad lacking in places, but the cast are more than willing to put the effort in to make it work – which they do with aplomb.
If the core of the film is a mystery thriller, it’s the little moments that push it towards horror – namely, those broadcast signal intrusions. Gentry has explained in interviews that he was inspired by cultural events such as Tara the Android and the 1987 Max Headroom signal hijacking in piecing his own BSIs together, and the intrusions presented to the audience are suitably unsettling. Figures in blank masks and wigs invade the screen, accompanied by static and scrambled speech, carrying out unnatural, disturbing motions, then vanishing as soon as they appear. It’s enough to haunt dreams – and for that, Gentry and co. must be congratulated.
But back to the big topic: masculinity. Masculinity defines everything in Broadcast Signal Intrusion. It’s masculine stubbornness that stops James from coming to terms with losing his wife, despite the group therapy sessions he attends; it’s that stubbornness that drives him to investigate the BSIs in the first place, even after he’s told to drop it, and attracts Alice to join him in his investigation; it’s masculine rage that leaves James unable to stop his descent into madness, even as he pushes people away; and it’s that same rage that leaves him dazed, confused, and broken, without any answers to the conspiracy he’s been so determined to uncover.
Over the course of the film, James affects nothing. None of his actions have the desired consequences, and all he ends up doing is alienating people. When a woman vanishes late on in the film, leaving only a cigarette as a reminder that she was even there, James is blank. He does nothing except smoke the discarded cigarette. His actions in the film’s conclusion are driven by anger and grief: his emotions blind him to the truth, and because of that, he fails. In a staggering and surprising move for a film written and directed by men, Broadcast Signal Intrusion finds that traditional, stoic, rageful masculinity is useless. It doesn’t provide answers, it doesn’t help men, and it doesn’t help them help others – all it does is get people hurt. And it’s this ultimate truth that makes Broadcast Signal Intrusion such a great watch.
The Verdict
For all its fascination with conspiracies, technology, and power, Broadcast Signal Intrusion is ultimately an incredibly introspective film about grief and masculinity, and the failures they can bring with them. It’s shocking and unsettling, yes, but it’s surprisingly thoughtful, too. For genre fans and anyone who doesn’t want their hand held through a horror-mystery, this is a must-see.
Words by Matt Taylor
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.