Await Further Instructions follows a disjointed family that awakes to an emergency scenario one holiday morning. The windows and doors are sealed shut with a weird, impenetrable material and the television is blinking emergency instructions. As the tension in the home escalates, the messages on the television become more disconcerting.
Await Further Instructions Review
This movie is fairly heavy-handed with many of its themes, working the extremes of its moral compass directly into the mouths of its characters. There is no subtlety when it comes to the message this film is intending to deliver through its horror vehicle. And while a majority of those messages are preaching to the choir, it quickly feels overbearing.
As far as the horror goes, AFI excels at delivering a disturbing tale of family dysfunction, technological dependence, blind government obedience, and racism through unsettling behavior, jagged dialogue, and violence. Despite some subpar acting and a heavy-handed script, the clearly low-budget film has a charm far above that of most mainstream horror films. It boasts a good balance between its message and being a legitimate horror film.
The bonkers ending delivers in some areas of horror that are rarely satisfied for me. It made the whole experience worth it in the context of all that happens. Yet, I'm not entirely sure it makes sense. Without ruining anything, it's hard to tell what exactly was the catalyst for everything, or at least the motivation. You literally experience the chaos unbeknownst of the truth all the way to the end. The effects work is fun and gruesome, escalating at a pretty consistent pace along the way. The claustrophobia of the home setting really gets under your skin over time.
I think it is worth a watch for most horror fans looking for something different at the expense of a decent budget. The money is stretched thin here, which is a credit to the production staff. AFI delivers, if at the UPS Ground rate.
Horror Rating System
Horror Qualifier: 9/10
Horror Quality: 7/10
Film Quality: 5/10