Growing up, we’re told not to believe everything we see on TV. Many of us know that. But many also struggle to apply that lesson to daily life. And it’s only become more difficult over the decades. We’d likely be sickened to learn how many hours a day we spend in front of a screen. TVs, cellphones, iPads, the bottomless pit of the internet and social media…screens rule our lives. They might as well be the gods of the 21st Century. An unsettling thought that director Johnny Kevorkian’s techno-horror chiller, Await Further Instructions, expounds on brilliantly.
Penned by Gavin Williams, the 2018 British film arrived right on the cusp of a major shift for screen culture. We have a better understanding now of how addiction to screens warps the mind, whether through fear mongering media or a bevy of misinformation online. But just seven years ago, I’d argue we still hadn’t fully accepted that realization. Some still haven’t. Through imagery at times reminiscent of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Await Further Instructions crucifies our over-reliance on screens. It also happens to be a Christmas horror movie, perfect to stream now on Prime Video.
What’s Await Further Instructions About?
Nick (Sam Gittins) arrives at his family home for the holidays with his girlfriend, Annji (Neerja Naik), in tow. Things get off to a heated start when his family’s racial biases lash out at a horrified Annji. The couple plan to leave the house the next morning… until they discover strange, thick walls of wiring have blocked off every exit. Soon, a message appears on the television, alerting the household to a contamination and ordering them to “await further instructions.” But who is behind the message, and how far are the characters willing to go to obey?
What Others Are Saying
In his review for Dread, Matt Donato described Await Further Instructions as, “a hypnotically balanced delve into digital brain rot, unexplained quarantines and blind trust in faulty systems.”
Tense Techno-Terror
Kevorkian opens the film on a quote that reads, “it’s the things you love that kill you,” and damn, if that doesn’t capture the themes of Await Further Instructions in a nutshell. A woman of color, Annji finds herself walking into a nightmare house of pale bigots who all believe people that look like her are the reason the country has gone to Hell. Of course, Nick is horrified by his loved ones, and demands they treat Annji with respect, to little avail. That’s in just the first few minutes. So, imagine how much more tense things get when Nick’s easily manipulated father (Grant Masters) and the rest begin receiving orders such as uncovering who among them is contaminated with a mysterious illness? Needless to say, Kevorkian’s film trembles with domestic tension throughout.
The sci-fi horror pits Nick against the ones he loves. They are each other’s greatest threat. And what else do we love? Our screen time. From TVs with ominous messages to walls made of weird wires and a truly wild finale that goes full techno-terror, Await Further Instructions explores the dangers of believing everything you’re told, no matter the source. Each new instruction from the television ratchets up mistrust between the characters. It fuels their hate…encourages their violence. All while casting the home in a green glow reminiscent of whatever screen we each spend hours with a day. A not-so-subtle stab at the fact that all our homes, to some degree, have become Nick’s home. Uncomfortable yet? Just wait until you see what the film has in store.
Stream the film now on Prime Video. Afterwards, maybe consider going outside and enjoying some much-needed touching of grass. And for more recs like this, follow me on Bluesky @werematt.
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