Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Brighton Sharbino, Dominic Monaghan, Will Patton, Fionnula Flanagan, Miles Anderson, Michael Filipowich, Kyle Collin, Sean Cook, Arden Myrin, Amire Abdullah, Max Adler, Jerry Basham, Lance Valentine Butler, Juli Erickson, Mike Harris.
You do have wonder what it takes to get a film noticed, that there will always be enough advertising and budget allocation to the films that the box office is assured of selling out and yet somehow in the gold mines of celluloid and cinematic constant success, there will be that one diamond that reflects unknowing wealth with greater passion than all the ingots found in the endless stream.
To dig such a prized possession out and wonder why it has been dismissed by others as they continue to excavate the routinely sold out, is too understand why for all the millions that Marvel Studios, Disney and all the other players dominating the market continue to make, that is quite often the small independent, the overlooked, or even the dismissed, that make the finer and more interesting stories.
That is not to say that a film could not be improved, given just that extra impetus which would make it stand it out, however, as the 2019 film, Radio Flash, proves, occasionally that the diamond in the rough has an outstanding sense of achievement attached to its reflected position and one which the finder of the gem can bask in the knowledge that they can spread the word.
What makes Radio Flash such an appealing film is that it doesn’t dwell on one the reasons of its premise, the nuclear blast or accident that causes the EMP is there in the background, there is no superficiality to the narrative which in other films would have the characters speculating on who or what caused the situation. Instead, the film plays out through the eyes of one particular survivor as she makes her way, with her father and played with upmost sympathy by Dominic Monaghan, to her Grandfather’s house.
It is the sense of unease that the viewer follows Brighton Sharbino’s Reese through her continuing story, and ultimately to her survival, in which the intelligently crafted tale hangs, and with the fear of the desperate playing on every conversation, every look exchanged, Radio Flash is a film of quality that should have any film lover gripped.
Wit stand out performances by Ms. Sharbino and Fionnula Flanagan as the unnerving woman living in seclusion with her son and grandson, the heart of substance is given greater credence and with moments which show that a story does not have to explain every detail to make it stand out. Too often a film will pursue every angle, it will find itself explaining every feature, and that then makes the viewer feel neglected, as if mystery no longer matters. In Radio Flash, all that is excused, all the trimmings tossed aside, and what is left is a diamond, flawed perhaps, but all the more worthy because of it. A delightful find.
Ian D. Hall