High concepts and so-called “elevator pitches” are one of Hollywood’s favored methods of hooking audiences, because it’s a lot easier to sell people on a cool-sounding premise than diving into the minutiae of why a certain project is worth your time. 2019’s Radioflash sounds deliciously intriguing on paper, but it would be fair to say the end product ended up missing the mark.
Set in a dystopian future where an electromagnetic pulse instantly eradicates half of the United States’ access to water, power, and communications, an intrepid teenager and her father head off into the lawless new world to try and find refuge in among the madness, embarking on a perilous journey through a society that’s instantly been plunged back into the literal dark ages.
Co-writer and director Benjamin McPherson aimed big in terms of ambition, but the fact Radioflash currently holds a big fat zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes paints a pretty clear picture as to how successful he was in turning a unique look at the technological downfall of civilization into an engaging motion picture.
It isn’t all doom and gloom, though, with streaming subscribers having taken the tale of Brighton Sharbino’s Reese and Dominic Monaghan’s Chris to their hearts over the weekend. As per FlixPatrol, Radioflash has become one of the most-watched titles on Prime Video’s global viewership charts, with the promise of a futuristic hellscape evidently enough to entice the more curious set of paying customers into living out what’s surely one of their worst fears.
