Written and directed by James B. Cox, Call of the Void tells the story of Moray, who has decided to take some time off from the hassles of daily life in a cabin in the woods. Since she has recently lost her job and is still reeling from the death of her brother, Moray’s parents are concerned for her, but she assures them that she can handle herself. On her first night in the secluded place, Moray has a brief interaction with one of her neighbors, Professor Blackwood, and his dog, Parkins. The following day she gets acquainted with her other neighbors: an amateur band, which comprises Lucy, Sterling, Cole, and Darryl (who isn’t a part of the band but hangs around with them for his sound design work as a film student). While interacting with them, Moray learns that the band knows Blackwood because he is helping Sterling with his thesis; however, Blackwood is nowhere to be found. The band or Moray doesn’t make a big deal about that and chooses to go hiking in the woods. And, well, that ends up being the cause of their undoing? Or did their otherworldly internal transformation start way before any of them realized? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
The Void’s Process of Enslaving Humans
Call of the Void is very low on details and only kind of insinuates that some kind of an alien invasion is going on. The five elements that are indicative of this are the opening shot of a black hole, the mushrooms, the water, the eldritch monster, and the “music” that apparently morphs according to its target in order to complete one’s transformation from human to something else. Sure, we don’t exactly see anything alien landing on Earth, but the shot of a black hole, followed by a narrative where weird and inexplicable things happen in a forest, is enough to tell us that something arrived from the great beyond to slowly take over its smartest species. However, how does that explain the death of Professor Blackwood, the band turning into something of a cult, and that final scene? Okay, so based on a very brief moment where Moray goes through what seems to be Blackwood’s makeshift lab and his notes, he is the one who made first contact.
I think that in Blackwood’s pursuit of some pure form of music, he came to the woods and tried to become one with nature. That’s when he found those mushrooms that had been planted by the alien (or aliens), and after consuming them, he became an alien himself, much like the Pod People in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Since it wasn’t easy for this possessed Blackwood to get humans to consume mushrooms, he devised a drinkable solution, as proven by the chemistry lab equipment in the room. Sterling was the one who trusted Blackwood the most, as he was his disciple. So, I suppose, while helping Sterling with his thesis, Blackwood slipped him the aforementioned drink under the guise of giving him water, thereby making him a Void Person (yeah, that’s what I’m calling the transformed versions of the characters, e.g., Void-Sterling or Void-Blackwood). Now, in order to expand its reach and perfect its mind-controlling serum, Void-Blackwood needed Void-Sterling to rope more people in, which is where Lucy, Cole, and Darryl came in. Moray just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Void’s Trap for Moray
By the time Moray met the band, I think Void-Sterling had converted Lucy, and they were working together to transform Cole and Darryl. Since Cole was thick-skulled, he “drank the Kool-Aid” during the hike with the band and Moray and became a part of the Void hivemind. Darryl had a sensitive tongue, so he managed to avoid drinking anything that was being given to him by Void-Sterling and Void-Lucy. Eventually, Darryl was forced to drink the funky water too. Even then he managed to keep himself from losing his mind by strumming a guitar. That act apparently served 2 purposes. Firstly, the final stage of the void-transformation involved the victim hearing their favorite song or maybe the song that was playing on the turntable at the cabin. So, in order to avoid hearing that piece of music, Darryl was playing the guitar and screaming at the top of his voice. Secondly, all that howling attracted Moray’s attention, thereby luring her into the Void People’s trap.
Moray had seen Void-Sterling, Void-Lucy, and Void-Cole acting strangely. She had found Blackwood’s dead body and Parkins’ collar. And she had gotten a glimpse of the Voids’ invasion master plan. Since the Void People had managed to confiscate Moray’s car keys and phone, I guess she was ready to hike all the way back to civilization. Hence, the Voids used Darryl as bait. As soon as she got Darryl to stop playing the guitar, his transformation was completed, and he ended up being the one to get Moray to drink the alien-mushroom-laced water, thereby making her a Void Person as well. I don’t know why Blackwood didn’t make the cut. Maybe the aliens only wanted him to convert the youth and then kill himself. Maybe Blackwood had a moment of clarity, and, in order to avoid being a slave to the Voids, he killed himself. Maybe Parkins freaked out and realized that his master was being puppeteered by an alien, killed him, and then escaped into the jungle. Your guess is as good as mine, to be very honest. And, yes, I can only hope that the dog made it out of that hellhole alive.
Moray and the Band Become One With the Void
Now, what was the point of all these events? What did it all mean? Keeping in mind Quentin Tarantino’s interpretation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which is in line with Edgar Wright’s take on the concept in The World’s End, the Void alien species probably sensed that humanity’s biggest problem was its wide array of emotions. They didn’t come to Earth with the intention of enslaving humans; they probably thought that they were curing us. Moray was depressed because she was unemployed and her brother had died recently. Sterling and Lucy had a lot of creative issues. Cole was arrogant. As for Darryl, well, he was probably being subjected to some low-key racism from the all-White group of artists; at least that’s what it seemed like to me. So, maybe the Void thought that if people like them could think, feel, and act alike, it would bring an end to all the conflict and discrimination they were facing, and they would be able to focus on making good music. Why music, though? Well, it’s a universal language. Even if you can’t understand the words that are being used, you can vibe with it, and as soon as you vibe with it, you’ll become one with the Void. Of course, the scope of James B. Cox’s film is small, but its implications are huge.
In Call of the Void’s ending, we see the Void versions of Moray, Lucy, Sterling, Darryl, and Cole heading towards civilization, after burying Blackwood’s body along with Parkins’ collar, while singing their new favorite song. So, it’s possible that as soon as they set foot in a town or a city, they’ll start giving them that alien-mushroom-laced water and then play that song. If they get access to the water supply and the radio station of the place, then it’s game over. If Cox ever makes a sequel to this film, it’ll be interesting to see how humans tackle this alien threat. But is the Void really a threat? Well, that’s the thing: humans are humans because they are flawed and messy. Sure, we need to be fixed, but that change needs to come from within. If somebody, in this case the Void, comes from outside and brainwashes everyone, that’s just fascism. Also, if you look at it from the perspective of creating art, which is presumably the reason why the Void chose Blackwood, Moray, Darryl, Cole, Lucy, and Sterling, has the alien species actually made them more efficient as artists, or has it destroyed their art? Their uniqueness is gone. They are creating the same thing, and that too through the lens of the Void, instead of their own soul. Until and unless the Void understands that, it’ll continue to expand its dominion. Will it become a Kaiju after enslaving, let’s say, 50% of the planet’s population? I don’t think so. I think the eldritch monster that we see is an image that’s being projected into the minds of the humans by the Void, and it’s as scary as we want it to be. Once humans stop fearing that image, they’ll probably be able to fight back against this invasive species. Anyway, those are my thoughts on Call of the Void. What are your thoughts on the same? Let me know in the comments below.
