Podcast to Movie Adaptation: The Chilling review of FIRST TIME CALLER

There are hundreds of media projects that pop up in the Squeedar email box that scream for attention. Even though Squeedar aims to provide a platform to amplify creator voices, try as we might, we still miss many. After all, we are just one person.

Oftentimes these projects that are overlooked the first, second, fifth time. Then at a random moment in time, something about the project during the tenth email scan catches the eye. Or maybe it was become on this one particular day, there was a a need for a new podcast which mean searching for just podcasts. Whatever the reason or lucky happenchance, the eyes caught upon the podcast that inspired a movie.

“First Time Caller” is the cinematic version of the two episode audio drama/podcast, “The Earth Moves”. To start off with the original source, listen to “The Earth Moves” which is readily available on all podcast platforms. Now. Stop reading this post. Come back after listening to those two episodes.

[PAUSE for chance at listening to the audio drama]

It got you, didn’t it?!

The audio drama: “The Earth Moves”

The two part episode is almost like a modern day expansion of “The War of the Worlds". Just like the 1938 audience that were enraptured by Orson Welles Mercury Radio performance of H.G. Well’s story, the modern day listeners are just as hooked as we listen to the beginning of the end. The sense of morbid fascination that just like the DJ, we are absolutely helpless to the mercy of the natural power of immense destruction.

In “The Earth Moves”, we are introduced to a radio show hosted by a shock DJ named Brent Ziff. Ziff is a single embodiment of every single annoying shock DJ. He is unapologetically crass, loud, sexist, extremely opinionated and full of lethal confidence. He’s the type of DJ that embraces and nurtures these disgusting characters to give the audience the freedom to tap into their worse side. Ziff gives his audience their own safe space to share. So of course, he is immensely popular. You get the sense that there is no shortage of fans clamoring to just talk to Ziff and be on his show.

As with any typical day while hosting the show, Ziff takes in a random caller who just seems a little bit off. For Ziff’s line of work, a little bit “off can easily be a huge boost to the ratings. The caller calls themselves Leo. Leo claims to sense an upcoming natural disaster thanks to painful bowel pain!

Just like the DJ, the audience assumes this is just a rando-weird guy looking to gain their 15 minutes of fame. Then the predictions are proved chillingly true. Our horror and shock is mirrored by the DJ as he shares the airwaves with the predictor of doom for all humankind.

For a two part episode, it is chilling in how real this could be. One moment, you’re relaxing and enjoying your favorite radio or online show. Then in mere seconds, it’s an upcoming natural disaster that is headed your way. A disaster that will occur in mere minutes and gives one no time to prep whatsoever. The is one of the man chilling questions that the show presents to the audience. Is it better to know that you will perish in a second or is it more easier to just be blissfully unaware?

Even with all of the smart-ass jokes and quips, the DJ is alone in treading such unfamiliar cosmic information. Absolutely helpless in warning the people before the meet their doom. All he can do is to keep the air waves open.

The Movie: “First Time Caller”

Did all of that terror translate into a movie version of the podcast? Absolutely. Especially when the same voice actors of the podcast reprise their roles in the film. There is a whole new level of experiencing the thrills. The audience is helplessly listening and also watching all of the doom unraveling from the perspective of the DJ side.

The movie begins with Ziff in the middle of his radio show listening and mocking his listeners. His fanbase is so large that Ziff doesn’t even need to provide a question to start the conversation off. The incoming calls are endless on the screen. Despite his harsh words and laughs, they still listen and want to interact. His popularity is high but we can see that he’s still just one guy, alone in a large home. Only the computer illuminates the otherwise dark and shadowed home. There’s no furniture, just physical representations of his success. The walls are high with just a small row of windows. There are no personal adornments other than his framed photos and awards. It’s completely sad and lonely. No matter how he speaks or what he says to his listeners, he needs them just as much as they adore him.

When Ziff first interacts Leo on-screen, Ziff is as dismissive as we would have expected. His attention is diverted to trolling cam girls and further adding to the overall picture of loneliness. Who could blame him for not taking Leo seriously? For the diverted attention part, not the trolling. The trolling part just shows what a complete jerk he is. Leo is just another nut, a voice that modulates the air waves giving more fodder for ridicule. That is until the first evidence that what Leo is trying to say is not complete crazy.

For those who listened to the podcast first, It’s actually pretty eerie. Knowing what’s going to happen but still feeling shock at seeing the “video” of it happening. It’s a small detail but it’s enough for that dropped feeling in your stomach to happen. And it just keeps getting more and more tense as we watch the panic and helplessness just wreck Brent to pieces.

First Time Caller is such a fascinating perspective on an apocalypse. There are tons of movies of people experiencing the end by being presently there. It’s these quieter stories, watching from the edge as it all comes closer that makes it so incredibly thrilling. It’s so realistic in that sense.

This was an amazing cinematic adventure. One thing is for sure, it doesn’t matter if the podcast is listened to first or the movie is first. Both must be experienced.

”First Time Caller” is available on Cable VOD and Digital HD