The Signal is a Zimbabwean post-apocalyptic scifi production directed by Daniel Lasker starring Tawanda Denga, Dumie Manyathela and Natasha Dlamini.
The Signal
The short film is set in a post-apocalyptic location in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where a mysterious “signal” corrupts and controls those who hear it, turning them into soulless demons. Endure and Survive!!! (that phrase has been stuck in my mind since watching The Last Of Us; review coming when I watch the last episode 📌)
The Good
First thing first, my regulars will know that I have penchant for Sci-Fi and Fantasy (books and movies) especially Afrocentric renditions of such themes and genres.
The Signal is Zimbabwe’s first Sci-Fi Film!!!!!!Talk about ground breaking and its in Ndebele with English subtitles.
The casting is brilliant, Tawanda Denga’s character David was hard and loved the trio’s on screen chemistry, whatever else these guys are in, count me in to watch it.
The cinematography and visual effects are on point, of course you can tell the production budget was limited, but they made it work.
Its intense with a haunting soundtrack that keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire runtime.
Don’t take my word for it, The Signal has bagged a couple of awards on the local scene and internationally such as Best Live Action Short Film at the 2022 Brooklyn SciFi Festival and the Daniel Lasker scooped the director’s prize for cultural impact and achievement at the 2022 Film Quest festival.
The Bad
Its very short… it’s 17 minutes and 45 seconds, well, it is a short film.
You get to the end and be like, I hope they are making the rest of it because this is such a teaser… It feels more like the intro to a pilot episode of a TV show..
I have so many unanswered questions, what happens next, what’s up with The Signal, why is it here, where is the rest of the world… but then you could say its just a short film that’s the beauty of it, to make up the answers as you go.
The Ugly
Its not an entirely original concept, for example there is the 2016 movie Cell based on a book by Stephen King where a cell signal turns people into zombies… And I watched The Signal while waiting for the next episode of The Last Of Us which is a TV series based on video game set in a post apocalyptic world with zombies and of course, you have to do, what you have to do, to endure and survive.
Final Thoughts
It’s a first for Zimbabwe and wont take away the ground breaking work. Someone has to forge the path and hopefully this is the first of more to come. Fun Fact: The script was originally drafted in English but changed to Ndebele because *in Sparta Voice* This Is Zimbabwe.
The film is available to stream on DUST YouTube channel. Dust is a popular scifi channel that presents thought-provoking science fiction stories, exploring the future of humanity through the lens of science and technology
Becoming The Muse 
You had me interested until you mentioned the run time. That’s a short tv episode in my mind and I treat tv shows very differently from movies. For one thing, I expect to be able to watch the whole thing in just a couple of chunks (man, binging behavior!). I’m guessing the money just isn’t there for that kind of thing though. And probably never will be until hollywood takes it over and changes it so much that it becomes unrecognizable.
I am so cheery and full of optimism this morning! (sorry)
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Oh Bookstooge you are such of sunshine!!
They did quite a lot in the run time in question.
I suspect and secretly hope that they are using it to get funding like see what we did with a shoe string and 17 minuteshoprfully imagine what we can do with more! Then hope it wont end up in hands of people more concerned with the bottom line turning profit than artistic creativity and integrity such as big bad Hollywood.
Still if you have twenty minutes to kill you should give it a lookie see.
~B
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Watched and liked it, it was both cool and gritty (while I haven’t watched Last of Us series, because I for some reason don’t want to spoil my memories from playing the game >> the factory did very much remind me of LoU game in a good way) AND there definitely needs to be more!!!!
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Yes!!!!!!! it gave some Last Of Us vibes… definitely feels like something that could be adapted into a pretty cool game too, I would play it.
Cheers
~B
PS Speaking of the Last Of Us, they did surprisingly well with it, while being mostly true to the game there are some differences- but of course hahahaha — dont write of watching it entirely ^_^
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Same! And I’ll think about watching LoU :-))
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How funny – as you were describing it I was remembering “The Cell,” and hoping “The Signal” ended better.
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Glad to find someone else who easily recalled The Cell, just before I wrote the review I mentioned it to a couple of people and they almost made me feel like I had made up the movie… thank heavens for Google!!!
~B
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Well, it wasn’t the most popular film 😉
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Brilliant! I have little time available to me atm, so a 17-minute featurette is just right for me (@Bookstooge: “It’s good we’re all different, life would be pretty boring otherwise! 😊”)
All queued up…
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ah yes the spice of life, variety!!!! There is always something for someone.
~B
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Sounds like fun, let me look for it.
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You should totally check it out and be amazed at what we have the potential to create
~B
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