Dead Air

The biggest problem is that the audience is way ahead of the script by Vickie Hicks. It’s not hard to figure out the twists and turns long before the story gets there. Right from the start, when Will mentions a blind spot in his memory, the audience knows that this is a substantial game-changing clue. Then the secret between Will and Eva is quickly figured out, even if you haven’t seen the trailer or read the synopsis. The fix is either hiding the clues better or reveal the secret sooner. What we have in the movie is delaying the inevitable, which often induces boredom.

The other problem is the tone. Based on what I know, this is a thriller, but it’s shot like a drama. It never really feels like a thriller until the end. Thrillers are often hard to pull off because it requires large sums of money that independent movies just don’ have. That said, there are cheap ways to build tension and anxiety using lighting, exciting camera angles, editing, and acting.

“…the big revelation…was a brilliant reveal…”

First, the lighting is way too bright and lit like a family drama. There’s a reason why tense moments almost always happen at night. Will’s reactions to his traumas don’t go far enough. He says he is scarred by his past, but I do not see it in the performance. I also feel like Eva needed to act more like she was carrying a secret than she did.

All that said, I will say, I liked the ending. Well, not exactly the conclusion but the big revelation, how it played out, and ultimately the consequences—can’t say much more than that. It was a brilliant reveal and result, and a better setup would have made Dead Air and the story ten times better. It’s hard to make an independent movie. Sometimes a good story can make up for a film’s shortcoming. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen with Dead Air.