Radio Silence

I was lucky enough to catch the premiere of Mat John's new short radio Silence as part of the excellent GrimmFest at Stockport Plaza.

For those that don't know Mat Johns… don't worry, you will soon. Mat and Zero Facility Films (ZFF) are one of the leading lights of Manchester's vibrant and talented film community. They rightfully had an internet hit with their last short RUN and return to similar bleak territory with the post-apocalyptic short Radio Silence.

Run was always going to be a hard act to follow, but Mat has cleverly hooked up with genre- busting screenwriters Ray Bogdanovich and Dean Lines for this project, alongside ZFF regulars John Grey, Producer Chris Lane and sound wizard/Composer William Morris.

If you're expecting a Zombie-fest you'll be sorely disappointed. This is very much a story about the living. The lead character Elaine (played superbly by Tracey Sheals) is trapped in her boarded-up terraced house alone while the apocalypse rages outside. Each day plays out the same. Elaine desperately tries to make contact with other survivors using a CB radio but day after day, month after month there is nothing but static.

Tracey Sheals is excellent in this. She lets loose some really powerful emotion in amongst the day-to-day drudgery of her imprisonment in the house. Her pain is palpable and she evokes the desperation of her existence with every pore.

Without giving too much away, there's some excellent sequences where we get a brief glimpse of the outside world - Manchester has never looked so grim. And there's even a quick cameo from Run's Joseph Stacey. The whole thing is underpinned by a fantastic score from William Morris performed by string quartet Helium Strings.

My only criticism is that it's a little long at 25 mins. But in a way that works in its favour as it really does feel quite claustrophobic as the days play out the same one after the other.

If the opportunity arises to see this at a festival then don't hesitate. It's ambitious and is really meant to be seen on the big screen. Johns is destined for even bigger things soon I'm sure and it can't be long before we see him and this team working in features.