Await Further Instructions

An unexpectedly solid paranoid/mysterious sci-fi horror film. The story centers on a British family who celebrate Christmas with a family dinner, but are soon trapped in their own home by an unknown force, with the only information provided by the TV in the room "Await further instructions". Whether it is an alien invasion or a terrorist attack, neither the viewer nor the main characters know and that is the best part. The atmosphere thickens, the family becomes paranoid and it was surprising how quickly they turned on each other. Unexpectedly gritty and atmospheric in places, with a pleasingly Carpenter-like 1980s style conclusion. For my part, I'm satisfied. These little cheaper efforts of original horror can surprise sometimes. 70% (14/10/2018)

I’m giving it four stars for its relative originality. It convinced me for most of the run and I will turn a blind eye to the ending, which I feel goes way too deep into B-movie waters. By this I mean, it has a B-movie feel, but without being stupid. The attractive premise that reminds of an almost forgotten kids game from the 1980s serves a catalyst for the very tense relationships between relatively well-drawn characters. And that’s where the main tension is, for most the time, the mysterious sci-fi element is just an ornament. Thematically, Kevorkian focuses on the struggle between critical thinking and blindly following orders from authorities and the passive acceptance of information, conservative prejudices and liberal open-mindedness, generational conflict, consumerism, and patriarchy. And he does it in a quite amusing and gratifying way. (05/10/2018)