Controlled - Bewahren Sie Ruhe

I’m giving it four stars for its relative originality. It convinced me for most of the run and I will turn a blind eye to the ending, which I feel goes way too deep into B-movie waters. By this I mean, it has a B-movie feel, but without being stupid. The attractive premise that reminds of an almost forgotten kids game from the 1980s serves a catalyst for the very tense relationships between relatively well-drawn characters. And that’s where the main tension is, for most the time, the mysterious sci-fi element is just an ornament. Thematically, Kevorkian focuses on the struggle between critical thinking and blindly following orders from authorities and the passive acceptance of information, conservative prejudices and liberal open-mindedness, generational conflict, consumerism, and patriarchy. And he does it in a quite amusing and gratifying way. (05.10.2018)

An unexpectedly solid paranoid/mysterious sci-fi horror film. The story centers on a British family who celebrate Christmas with a family dinner, but are soon trapped in their own home by an unknown force, with the only information provided by the TV in the room "Await further instructions". Whether it is an alien invasion or a terrorist attack, neither the viewer nor the main characters know and that is the best part. The atmosphere thickens, the family becomes paranoid and it was surprising how quickly they turned on each other. Unexpectedly gritty and atmospheric in places, with a pleasingly Carpenter-like 1980s style conclusion. For my part, I'm satisfied. These little cheaper efforts of original horror can surprise sometimes. 70% (14.10.2018)

There is no need to dig into the plot and lament what makes sense or not. Await Further Instructions is primarily a metaphor and an interesting social experiment. The skillful clash of two ideological camps with different views of the world is spiced up with supernatural elements, which will be appreciated especially by genre fans, which I acknowledge, as it makes it more remarkable than if it were a seriously conceived chamber drama – a chamber sci-fi horror is always the better option! The film could, under certain circumstances, work even without the supernatural, but then we would be deprived of that excellently executed ending, which would be a great loss. Similar films for me stand or fall on the final culmination and punchline, and sometimes I have experienced that a failed ending ruined the overall impression that seemed promising until then. Fortunately, this is the opposite case, where it was brought to a successful conclusion, and the final passage is actually the highlight of the entire film – mainly thanks to it, it is worth seeing. BTW: An interesting coincidence that I watched this film precisely in the time of the coronavirus crisis, without knowing in advance what it was about. Certain parallels and potential situations stemming from the current situation are clearly visible here. (04.04.2020)