This film immediately got my attention, it seemed to fall under a sub category that I love and I was gripped. Sadly it didn't deliver the way that I expected and that's a real shame.
You see Await Further Instructions tells the story of a family brought together for Christmas. When drama occurs two of them decide to leave at the crack of dawn but find themselves locked in. Every door and window is sealed by some kind of metal and now the television is giving them instructions! So what is going on? Terrorism? Quarantine? Or something more nefarious?
I liked this, I liked the family dynamic and how they each reacted. Some rationally, others counter productive. The movie also touches upon religion, how they badly "Reached" to deem what was taking place as relevant to their particular faith causing further irrational behavior and hysteria.
Starring GoT/Harry Potter/The Strain star David Bradley I was thoroughly hooked by the movie and fascinated to see where it would go next. Trouble is, where it goes isn't as entertaining.
A slow burner, the pace works and kept me engaged but as soon as certain revelations take place and questions get answered you realize just how badly the writer has dropped the ball. They took a really enjoyable movie with a great concept and tagged on the end a moronic, awful finale that looks terrible and simply isn't very good at all.
Personally based on everything we found out I'd like to see a sequel to this, but one where they give more thought to the ending.
The Good:
Solid concept
The Bad:
Dreadful finale
Await Further Instructions
2018
Action / Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi
Await Further Instructions
2018
Action / Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
A dysfunctional family awake on Christmas morning to discover they’re sealed inside their house by a mysterious black substance. On television, a single line of text reads: “Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions.”
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
December 12, 2018 at 07:25 AM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Await Further Instructions: Well that was, interesting!?
Bait and switch
Wow, I actually god tricked by somewhat good direction for like the first 30% of the movie. Then it all just shatters completely. It's not long before you understand the super straightforward message they are trying to deliver. Around 1 hr in the script ended and it sort of just dragged along for another 30 mins of nothing (they just kept repeating themselves in cause you're completely braindead so you won't understand what they mean). It lets you know in advance that there will be no interesting resolution, so you won't get disappointed anyway.
None of the characters make any sense and they change their decisions so often you can' really take them seriously. The effects are passable yet some of the stop motion was just too hard to believe. I actually feel bad that I let myself get baited on this one.
P.S. Kudos to the writers for writing the most ignorant and disgusting character I've ever seen in a movie (and I've seen lots of them) - the dad. They should've called this - "Hateful Ignorance: The Movie"
Ruled by TV.
What starts off as the usual miserable British family Christmas soon transforms into a a unique, off the wall British horror, where one dysfunctional family are quite literally ruled by the television.
The positives for me are the performances, and the originality of the story. In particular I loved David Bradley, he was literally monstrous, and Abigail Cruttenden was great as the poor wife on the edge. It would be so easy to dismiss this film, as it does go completely bonkers towards the end, but applied them for at least doing something different.
On the debit side, it did look a little cheap and amateur at times, it's not exactly what you'd call a slick production. If have liked to know a little more about the strange force.
Despite the harsh reviews, I'd recommend it, just don't take it too seriously. 7/10