It’s always great to see small independent features compete with big scale summer blockbusters. Without a doubt, The Signal boasts a great deal of positives for a low-budget sci-fi effort, including some striking images and impressive production value. However, despite the strong technical skills, the story never engages on an personal level. In the end, the film ultimately falters and stumbles towards an unsatisfying resolution.
The movie opens on MIT student Nic (Brenton Thwaites) driving his estranged girlfriend Haley (Olivia Cooke) cross country to Caltech with his best pal Jonah (Beau Knapp). Along the way, Nic and Jonah trace the location of an online nemesis. They decide to confront the mysterious hacker en route in a remote desert location. Things go south quickly, and Nic awakens alone with strange injuries in a mysterious underground facility. He’s questioned by an investigator named Damon (Lawrence Fishburne), who suggests that an otherworldly encounter may have taken place. As Nic’s condition worsens, he attempts to find his friends and a way out of his imprisonment.
The cast are all decent, even though they’re saddled with some overly tortured moments that result in slow-motion emoting. Thankfully, Fishburne emits a great deal of bemused enjoyment from his role. His character is entertainingly chilly and officious, carrying a knowing smile as the strangeness unfolds around him. And as mentioned previously, the photography far surpasses the film’s budget. There are some unique angles used to capture the action and eerie imagery thanks to the spacesuit-clad appearance of the facility employees. Added to the mix are some impressive effects that include a striking shot of the ground rumbling and quaking into the air during the film’s climax.
It’s even tense early on as Nic wakes inside the installation, but the sense of anxiety and fear evaporates before long. The story switches gears and begins to emulate other types of science-fiction (and even superhero movies to a degree) until it feels like a pastiche. Even worse, the story becomes fascinated with a series of ill-advised reveals. After a while many will feel just like the main character, who eventually utters that,”… it doesn’t make any sense.” These twists begin to arrive at such a rate that viewers may begin to wonder if they weren’t being invented and shot on the fly just to spice things up. In fact, the final sting passed this reviewer with little more than a shrug.
It also doesn’t help that a great deal is made of the lead character’s tragic personal back story, but isn’t developed or paid off in a particularly meaningful way. At least it all looks very pretty as it falls apart. Director and co-writer William Eubank certainly has a great deal of talent for visuals and there can be little doubt that he will move on to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, The Signal falls well short of satisfactory in the script department, leaving viewers with a lot of impressive images but little else. It shines brightly for a while, but ultimately flickers out.