#FANTASIA: “THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND”

By Amanda Gilmore

A strange force is thriving just off the coast of Block Island and it’s creating terrifying experiences among residents and wildlife.

Brother duo Kevin and Matthew McManus have written and directed a brilliant piece of Supernatural Horror. They impressively expand on this genre to involve our real-life fears surrounding technology and our environmental crisis. As if that wasn’t enough to terrify an audience, the brothers go further to skillfully layer a theme of inherited illness. Both through genetics and the inexplicable force which infects one family member and moves to another, threatening to break the family unit. 

The entire Cast, led by the magnificent performances of Michaela McManus and Chris Sheffield, is outstanding. They root the supernatural in reality with their wholly believable performances while leaving space for the mystery to grow.  Early, audiences are thrust into the mysterious world and bathe in the mystery throughout. Refreshingly that mystery is never entirely solved, rather labelling the force as a ‘thing’. Therefore, allowing the audience to project their opinion and categorize the force as an alien, mystical sea creature, or others. The Block Island Sound tops all that off with the excellent sound design and mixing that builds tension and creates unease. This is one film not to be missed.

The Block Island Sound screens live online at Fantasia Fest on Fri. Aug. 28 at 7 PM.