[Event Review] Popcorn Frights Film Festival: Distress Signals (2022)

Distress Signals (2022), co-directed by Terence Krey and Christine Nyland, is making its world premiere at Popcorn Frights Film Festival this year. 

Caroline (Christine Nyland) is on a camping trip with some friends, and one morning she goes on a solo hike. When she falls off an overlook, she can’t find her way back to the trail. She has a cell phone, a walkie talkie, water, and a little food, so she doesn’t worry too much right away, though her shoulder is hurt. Her cell phone has little to no service, and eventually the battery dies. Her walkie isn’t bringing her any responses either. Caroline decides she needs to find her own way out. To say more than that would potentially spoil some of the film’s surprises. Without spoiling anything, it’s safe to say this story is about assessing risk and weighing it against possible reward.

The attention to detail in the film shows a high level of care for filmmaking and character development. Nyland’s performance of her pain from a dislocated shoulder, and the mental strength it takes to put her shoulder back into place, is brutally realistic. The hesitancy and preparation Caroline shows, through action and few words, makes for a believable depiction of what it’s like to be hurt and alone. Caroline is portrayed as intelligent and resourceful. She has the foresight not to eat or drink all her food and water at once, rationing them into smaller and smaller portions. She knows she needs to make a fire, but she doesn’t have a lighter or matches so she finds another way to get a fire started. She continues to try the walkie talkie, even though it doesn’t seem to be helping, she knows she shouldn’t give up.

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The story offers a background of Caroline that is slowly revealed to help the audience understand how she got into this situation. Learning more about her builds the viewer’s empathy for her. Near the beginning of the film, she gets a friend on the cell phone for just a few seconds, and instead of asking where she is, the friend berates her for going hiking alone. That interaction hurts to watch, but when it’s revealed later why she was hiking alone, Caroline becomes even more sympathetic. This is a horror film, but it was not immediately obvious what kind of horror it was going to be, and it was enjoyable to watch it unfold. However, the story may have been more successful as a short film rather than a feature, since there are long stretches of Caroline alone in the woods without much happening. The tension could have built more consistently with a shorter runtime. 

The performances are strong, the scenery is beautiful, and the filmmaking is solid. For horror fans who like stories that take place in the woods, seek out Distress Signals.

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