The Vastness of Space and What Hides There
Cerberus Rex’s astrophysicist encourages you to think cosmically in this cinematic audio drama.
How often do you think about the expanse of space, the cosmic state of the universe? Dr. Anabela Correia thinks about it all the time. She is the astrophysicist star of Cerberus Rex, a self-contained 90-minute audio drama on Sci-Fi.com. The show, which brings a universe to life with sophisticated sound design and skilled performances, is an excellent introduction for anyone who wants to know what audio drama is like but can’t commit to an ongoing or lengthy series. It’s also a whopper of a science-fiction horror adventure, as described in the show’s synopsis:
Dr. Anabela Correia, a professor of astrophysics at Hawksmoor University, travels upon request by a former colleague to Well Station, a research facility performing experiments on a strange phenomenon in an underground cave. A natural explorer, Ana rushes to view the odd marvel first-hand and, accompanied by Well Station Security/Containment Officer Benjamin Wyngarde, is soon staring down at a mystery of physics hidden deep.
Then… not so deep.
The first thing that struck me, after a classically pulp introduction from a note-perfect radio voice, was the chasm of space. This is a soundscape that knows when to fall away and echo, and when to fill the listener’s ears with people, cars, and booms. The sound design relies on binaural audio, an effect that uses multiple microphones to create a 360-degree soundscape. Instead of the same sound occurring in both ears at the same time, the sound flows from one side to the other depending on how everyone and everything is moving. This effect enhances both the environment building and the scare tactics, so listen with headphones.. The first scene of Dr. Correia lecturing in her echoing classroom gives the impression of an enormously vaulted ceiling and rows upon rows of chairs stretching upward. Later, the underground cave drips and reverberates with Anabela’s wonder and fascination and, eventually, fear. The sound effects are creepy, especially after my hindbrain learned which ones are associated with danger.
This forsaken sound panorama of an emptied classroom, and a deep well in a gaping cave, and a wide and flat field is filled in by music composed by Benjamin Goldman — music that is cinematically vast in composition and conceit. The way the sound engineering and music work in tandem is fascinating — how the music occupies the empty spaces or how it falls away when something else making sound and fury arrives. In a few cases, there is too much happening at one time, and eliminating or thinning the music would better serve the dialogue. But this does not happen often, and when it does, it usually serves to contrast with another audio event nearby. Cerberus Rex is definitely not sparsely designed; it has the same richness of sound as you would expect from a Hollywood adventure movie, big and engulfing, with lilting high notes and rumbling bass.
But Cerberus Rex’s true success is the harmony of its script and sound. Nothing feels out of place, as it either services the plot or the understanding of the characters and their relationships, which are all necessary components to any work of fiction. Anabela Correia does not let anyone make any decisions on her behalf, nor cut her out of her own destiny. Every decision she makes is informed, rational, and brave. She sometimes reminded me of Dr. Louise Banks from the movie Arrival, and she is quite likely one of my new favorite fictional academics. The secondary characters are all people in their own right, with quirks and hidden depths, and their depth as people is crucial for the way this mystery unwinds.
Natali de Assis, the voice of Dr. Correia, and Michael Joseph Murray, the voice of her companion Benjamin Wyngarde, are fantastic actors, and they click together like puzzles pieces you didn’t realize were missing each other as soon as they begin interacting in earnest. Through their suspicion, wonderment, terror, and panic, you will smile and hold your breath along with them. The sound design, score, performances, and script all flow together into a tight knot, interlaced until you can’t remove one for fear of damaging the other — a moment of levity between characters would not be complete without the gentler music; the tragedy of space is not impactful without a well-placed silence.
Don’t listen to this show in the car or while washing dishes; it’s easy to get lost in the scientific aspects of the fiction if you aren’t paying attention. This is especially true at the beginning, during Dr. Correia’s lecture. I wore the deer-in-headlights look myself, as I imagine her baffled students do, which in retrospect I utterly love because I enjoyed intellectually understanding that Dr. Correia is a genius — but also I enjoyed feeling it, out of my depth and gaping at her as she ran lightspeeds around me but still managed to get me to the right conclusion in the end. I wasn’t just in my house anymore; I was at a singular point in the universe.
As Dr. Correia says, You must think cosmically.
Cerberus Rex has been nominated for a Webby Award in Best Sound Design/Original Music Score. Voting ends Thursday, April 19th. Check out the the competition and vote for your favorites here.
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