IMDb RATING
3.9/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
A modern and unrelentingly tense psychological thriller based on a theory of the origins of shortwave radio frequencies, Shortwave is an unnerving reminder that some stones are best left unt... Read allA modern and unrelentingly tense psychological thriller based on a theory of the origins of shortwave radio frequencies, Shortwave is an unnerving reminder that some stones are best left unturned.A modern and unrelentingly tense psychological thriller based on a theory of the origins of shortwave radio frequencies, Shortwave is an unnerving reminder that some stones are best left unturned.
- Awards
- 11 wins & 5 nominations total
Cristo Montt
- Josh
- (as Cristobal Tapia Montt)
Morgana Ignis
- Creature 'The Aggressor'
- (as Mick Ignis)
Katie Carthen
- Scientist
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
Cannot remember any movie where I just fell asleep without being tired. This movie builds up so slowly that it really is a cure for sleeplessness! Honestly, if you have sleeping problems just watch this movie. Acting is also terrible. It missed everything but the main reason why I rate this movie 1 star is because those behind this movie tried to put some kind of emotion into it by putting a lot of attention into certain scenes but actually got the opposite. A shameful and laughable approach to a situation that is very serious when it happens to anyone in real life. Makers of this movie, do something else!
This is a slow, drawn out movie that combines essence of "The Outer Limits" weirdness to a very slow and painfully drawn out conclusion of what seemed to be an intriguing plot. You learn very early about why Isabel and Josh have moved out to a location in the middle of nowhere, and the fact Josh is involved in a science project, but that's about all you know about for 25 minutes as the movie drags on and reminds you of these facts over and over again. The music does not help. The ambient backing track is hypnotic in places, and with the slow pace of the movie you'll be forgiven for falling asleep in places. I began to start skipping 10 seconds here, and 20 seconds there waiting for something to new happen.
The acting was OK, and there was a needless scene of Juanita Ringeling masturbating (there you go skip to 22 minutes in and enjoy). This is not a spoiler as it has very little relevance to the plot if any. The movie did not need it, but I suppose its one way to keep viewers from switching off at this point. I'm sure the writers will give you plenty of excuses for it being in the movie.
On the whole the movie was painfully slow, the writers struggled to make the plot stretch for 80 minutes. I had to turn on subtitles on halfway through because the actors were talking / shouting over each other and areas that were scary were only made so because of the very loud sound effects, otherwise, nothing makes you jump. How can I get these 80 minutes of my life back?
The acting was OK, and there was a needless scene of Juanita Ringeling masturbating (there you go skip to 22 minutes in and enjoy). This is not a spoiler as it has very little relevance to the plot if any. The movie did not need it, but I suppose its one way to keep viewers from switching off at this point. I'm sure the writers will give you plenty of excuses for it being in the movie.
On the whole the movie was painfully slow, the writers struggled to make the plot stretch for 80 minutes. I had to turn on subtitles on halfway through because the actors were talking / shouting over each other and areas that were scary were only made so because of the very loud sound effects, otherwise, nothing makes you jump. How can I get these 80 minutes of my life back?
A sci-fi thriller with a 6.5 rating...it sounded awesome. I persisted. And persisted. Annnnnd persisted.
What a waste of 90 minutes of life.
Spare yourself the pain.
What a waste of 90 minutes of life.
Spare yourself the pain.
The most boring and pretentious film i have ever seen! A waste of mine and your time.fell asleep 4 times,nothing happens and the acting is crap.Avoid.
...that would likely have worked better as an extended short, this tyro effort by a bunch of people you've never heard of probably played a lot better in the writer/director's head than it does in the finished product. At times deadly dull, and other times messily incomprehensible, "Shortwave" has something to do with communicating with aliens who seemingly turn out to be violently disinterested in being bothered. The leading lady is attractive, one must grant, but eye-candy can't carry an ill-told story, especially when it's all tease and no delivery. The opening scene is cleverly executed, but once it's over, the film slowly sinks into the mire of its own artsy pretensions of mystery, all of which remain virtually inexplicable. Things occur that go nowhere. Hints are dropped and never picked up again. It all ends in a spate of death, furiously signifying nothing. I gave it an extra point or two for some nice DP work, but really, it's not worth the effort to seek it out or the time to watch it.
Did you know
- TriviaThe "radio" is a Heathkit Dx-60b Transmitter, not a receiver.
- SoundtracksAftermath
Performed by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Timothy Bettinson, & Shaun Pryor
- How long is Shortwave?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $350,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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