Kevin McManus and Matthew McNaus' 2020 science-fiction horror film The Block Island Sound shifts away from classic tropes using a non traditional perspective focusing on an extraterrestrial force while also emphasizing the effect of psychological terror. The Block Island Sound concentrates on neural damage that occurs when aliens contact humans showcasing a type of hereditary mental illness instead of the typical alien narratives like the one seen in B-Movie popcorn flicks. The movie centers around the patriarch Tom voiced by Neville Archambault and his son Harry who is played by Chris Sheffield both affected by the aliens as his daughter Audry portrayed by Michaela McManus sees her male family members as struggling with either alcohol use or mental illness.
'The Block Island Sound' Sidesteps Traditional Sci-Fi Horror Elements To Prioritize Psychological Impact
The horror within The Block Island Sound comes directly from alien interactions although those aliens are never actually seen or depicted and the movie centers on horrific side effects of alien contact using a specific lens. The movie specifically shows how these events impact Harry as an observer and then also as a direct subject which also ignores common place horror staples like gore and jumpscares allowing the film to rely solely on the psychological impact . Harry’s pure feelings of panic and confusion regarding his father’s experience is raw adding to the unique horror aspects of this psychological tale. Harry begins having similar issues to his father going into blackout periods and having missing memory or waking on open water covered in scratches.
Mental Illness and the Unknown : How 'The Block Island Sound' Blurs the Lines in Unique Ways
The Block Island Sound purposely offers the possibility that Harry and Tom's problems originate from alcoholism or neural disorder adding ambiguity to their already difficult position with family members. Audry believes her father and brother to be sick creating additional strain on existing family dynamics while she consistently looks for logical or scientific reasons to these events. Harry is clearly worsening in health the more Audry tries to rationalize what’s occurring adding extra mystery to the overall production where all options seem open. This gives viewers space to question the overall origin of their issues whether being supernatural or illness in nature until its clarified that supernatural elements exist via a static screech during alien proximity with fish randomly falling out of the sky creating the terrifying idea that there might be a force much bigger at play.
The movie purposefully positions feelings of insignificance stemming from these alien occurrences and sudden onset mental illness which often results in the feeling of losing full control. The inability to gain any sort of control over one's body whether due to supernatural phenomena or medical reasons proves very chilling making it akin to a Lovecraftian cosmic horror situation where the human is quite insignificant when compared to all other universal elements at play in the movie.
Trippy and Unnerving: Color Grading and Visual Aesthetics Used in 'The Block Island Sound'
The visual aesthetic of The Block Island Sound is intentionally produced for audiences to directly embody what Harry is experiencing in an attempt to recreate and show feelings such as blackouts despair and hallucination. The color schemes in the film often present themselves as cold blues and grays creating an uncomfortable overall feeling. The settings are predominantly based on an island location where a large amount of the warmth is stripped from the shot producing a visually hostile environment. Audry returns to her home of Block Island however it never feels welcoming highlighting a stark emotional contrast which then rubs off on the overall viewers experiences.
The audio and camera techniques that are applied complement film visuals by making the movie uncomfortable for the viewing audience . The film’s constant synth reverb has the quality of being overpowering which combined with the lingering and long camera shots further provides the experience of being disoriented along with disassociating creating the sense of lost time and space. These techniques give viewers a direct visual shorthand whenever Harry loses grip and falls into his trances where viewers and character are put on a same level experiencing the same trauma together adding to overall story and tension in the movie.
Under-The-Radar Success: Exploring Why The Block Island Sound Gained its Recognition from Critics and Audiences
The Block Island Sound did not achieve instant recognition when it originally released because the movie doesn't subscribe to common tropes that many might expect in sci-fi film it does however explore the terror of intelligent alien life through tension. The McManus siblings focused primarily on an existential dread as a means of unnerving viewers rather than sensationalize events and using loud visual styles which is very typical. The Block Island Sound is more akin to a psychological horror than stylized sci-fi which positions it outside typical cosmic horror film types in this genre however that designation might apply considering the cosmic scale horror that it achieves. Netflix has also made The Block Island Sound is available for streaming services.