Jim Baitte (Jack Redmayn) is a man with a singular mission. As the sound recordist for a movie, he is determined to finally prove he isn’t the total disaster everyone assumes he is. His destination is the titular Pincer Point, an island that reeks of salt air, isolation, and, according to local legend, a dark nautical prophecy.

What begins as a technical endeavor quickly descends into a struggle for survival. As Jim tries to capture audio, he finds that the island has its own frequency, one that wants to erase him. Between the crumbling landscape and the creeping dread of ancient superstition, Baitte realizes that finishing the movie is the last thing he needs to worry about.

Directors Noah Stratton-Twine and Jake Kuhn have come up with a great angle by featuring a protagonist whose job is to listen to the environment. This enables them to play with the audio landscape in a way that feels genuinely unsettling. If you’re watching this, turn the volume up or put on some headphones. 

As for the location, Pincer Point feels like a spiritual successor to those lonely, windswept locales found in 70s British folk horror.

This is a film that understands that the most terrifying thing in the world isn’t a monster. It’s the realization that the equipment is failing, that the sun is going down, and that the environment itself has decided to end you. Plus, it looks incredible, and crabs are always terrifying.

PS: The sequel has already been announced.

You can watch this either in-person or virtually at the Chattanooga Film Festival. For more info, visit the official site.