Tom Lynch (Neville Archambault) is a fisherman that lives on the Block Island Sound with his son Harry (Chris Sheffield). Gradually Tom starts behaving very strangely, taking the boat out in the middle of night and not remembering what was happening as well as other erratic and unstable shifts of mood. Meanwhile, hundreds of dead fish have been washing up on shore which brings Tom’s estranged daughter Audry (Michaela McManus), now a marine biologist, back to the island to investigate the mysterious occurrence. This stirs up old family emotions that grow even more strained when Harry begins exhibiting the same symptoms that his father Tom did. What is out there on the water causing all this?

The Block Island Sound is a slow-burn mystery that is perhaps being re-evaluated in the wake of Nope, which it shares some surface-level similarities with. Of course, Jordan Peele’s film has a much higher budget and is in some ways a weirder and more complex film, but The Block Island Sound knows what its limitations are and is able to maximize them to good effect in creating an atmospheric film with legitimately good performances and an interesting denouement. In another time and place, this premise would have been a good episode of The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone with even a message that wouldn’t feel out of place in one of those shows. I feel like it does lean a little too heavy into the family drama at times, veering into the melodramatic a bit much, but in some ways those scenes are necessary to ground the more heightened events into the ordinary, creating disturbances both terrestrial and otherworldly.

Synapse has delivered an excellent digital transfer here with very deep and consistent black levels, absolutely critical given how many night scenes there are here with very nice saturation and clean, cool color hues with no hint of distortion, macroblocking or any other issues with the scan. Top notch work all around. The 5.1 Surround mix is also handled really well, balancing the more dialogue heavy scenes with the tumultuous wind and ocean spray of the boat sequences. Synapse has also included several nice extras to complement the film. First is an audio commentary with the directors, McManus Brothers, who go into lots of detail around the making of the film. The disc also includes several short featurettes showcasing different aspects of the production including the effects work, what it was like shooting on the water, the casting process and more. We also get a Super 8 featurette on the LA shoot and a compilation of McManus home movies from when they were younger. All in all, a solid batch of extras.

The Block Island Sound isn’t a super gory, razzle dazzle horror flick, but for those looking for more of a slow burn, atmospheric mood piece with solid acting and nice production design despite a shoestring budget, this film may be exactly what you are looking for.