The Signal (William Eubank, 2014): USA

Reviewed by Mina Gilbertsson. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2015.

The Signal is an edgy science fiction thriller about friendship and love. Three MIT students Nic (Brenton Thwaites), Haley (Olivia Cooke) and Jonah (Beau Knapp) are on a road trip to California. The hacker Nomad, who nearly got Nic and Jonah expelled for breaking into MIT server, found out their location and contacted them once again. Out of eager, curiosity and anger Nic, Jonah and Haley tracks down the hacker’s location in the Nevada dessert. An unseen force strikes down and before they know it they are placed in an underground research facility.

Dr. Damon (Laurence Fishburne) starts to interrogate Nic, but he wants his own answers. Why is he here? Where is Haley and Jonah? Why does he have the numbers 2.3.5.42 tattooed on him? Even though the information Damon tells him is limited, he finds out where to find Haley and Jonah.

Nic is both very smart and determined to get out of the facility. He plans his escape with the help of Jonah who shares the room next to him. Everyday turns out as the others – Nic runs tests and experiments during the early hours of the day and tries to escape during the late hours of the day.

The mise en scene was beautiful throughout the whole film – especially in the outdoor shots: the woods, the mountains, the sunsets and the night shots. The colors were very bright in every other scene that occurred outside the facility, which gave the film an even larger contrast between the two worlds.

Despite some confusion and difficulties understanding the storyline, the film captures the audiences attention in every scene. The line between fantasy and reality is blurred out, which left me and many other audience members confused. Still, the film had several great aspects – the valuation of friendship and the continuous suspence in the film.