Earth FM
2021 · 10m · USA
Directed by Philip Rabalais
Genres: experimental, sci-fi
Tones: contemplative, mythic
Three scientists chase an elusive signal through what feels less like data than divination, and their transmissions converge somewhere inside the planet itself. The discovery is cathartic, mysterious, and stubbornly resistant to being called sci-fi.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Three scientists, one signal, and the planet listening back — this is the rare experimental short with a premise you can actually pitch in a sentence. If Rabalais doesn't blink at the metaphysics, it's the best kind of weird.
Geological mysticism in research-procedural drag — Rabalais aims for Upstream Color frequencies and the reach is what I want from experimental sci-fi. Worth my time even if the landing is uncertain.
Three scientists chasing a signal that converges inside the earth, dressed as research procedural with geological mysticism underneath — the page summary is thin but the premise is alluring. Lives on the sound design.