# Help ID: 80s-ish thriller — phone call with very long numbers, paperboy newspaper scene, alarm clock/date clue?

**URL:** <https://filmfind.me/t/help-id-80s-ish-thriller-phone-call-with-very-long-numbers-paperboy-newspaper-scene-alarm-clock-date-clue/9869>\
**Category:** Movies\
**Tags:** suspense, thriller\
**Created:** [October 1, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://filmfind.me/t/help-id-80s-ish-thriller-phone-call-with-very-long-numbers-paperboy-newspaper-scene-alarm-clock-date-clue/9869 "2025-10-01T10:50:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wings](https://filmfind.me/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/e495f1/32.png) [@Wings](https://filmfind.me/u/Wings)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://filmfind.me/t/help-id-80s-ish-thriller-phone-call-with-very-long-numbers-paperboy-newspaper-scene-alarm-clock-date-clue/9869/1 "2025-10-01T10:50:40Z")

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Hello — I’m trying to track down an English-language thriller I saw on TV, probably from the 1980s. My memory is of these three scenes:

• A young man gets an urgent phone call and is told to write down a very long string of digits (I think ~20 digits).

• On a suburban street a newspaper van throws out bundles; the man kicks them in anger; a paperboy on a bike shows up and he helps gather the papers.

• The man wakes/lying in bed, watches a digital alarm clock flip between time and date, notices the date matches part of the numbers, and starts decoding them.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MABV](https://filmfind.me/user_avatar/filmfind.me/mabv/32/2939_2.png) [@MABV](https://filmfind.me/u/MABV)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://filmfind.me/t/help-id-80s-ish-thriller-phone-call-with-very-long-numbers-paperboy-newspaper-scene-alarm-clock-date-clue/9869/2 "2025-10-07T19:34:49Z")

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Maybe “Miracle Mile” (1988)?

> **[Dailymotion](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9h6aa4)**

> **[Miracle Mile (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Mile_(film))**
>
> Miracle Mile is a 1988 American apocalyptic thriller film written and directed by Steve De Jarnatt. The film stars Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham. Its plot depicts the panic surrounding a supposed doomsday brought on by a sudden outbreak of war and its oncoming nuclear holocaust, taking place in a single day and mostly in real-time. The title is named after the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles where most of the events take place.
> Harry Washello and Julie Peters meet at the La Bre...