The Signal (2014)

On a road trip, Nic and two friends are drawn to an isolated area by a computer genius. When everything suddenly goes dark, Nic regains consciousness - only to find himself in a waking nightmare.

Director:

William Eubank

Writers:

Carlyle Eubank, William Eubank

Stars:

Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Patrick Davidson	...	Boy Playing Claw Game
Brenton Thwaites	...	Nic
Olivia Cooke	...	Haley
Beau Knapp	...	Jonah
Jeffrey Grover	...	Gas Station Clerk
Laurence Fishburne	...	Damon
Roy Kenny	...	Hazmat 1
Timothy Holmes	...	Hazmat 2
Ricardo Campos	...	Hazmat 3
Drew Sykes	...	Hazmat 4
Lin Shaye	...	Mirabelle
Robert Longstreet	...	James

Storyline

On a road trip, Nic and two friends are drawn to an isolated area by a computer genius. When everything suddenly goes dark, Nic regains consciousness - only to find himself in a waking nightmare.

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Plot Keywords:

road trip | girlfriend in a coma | computer hacker | prosthetic leg | alien contact | 

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Taglines:

This is the signal. If you hear it, you have been chosen.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2014 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Сигнал

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$155,642, 13 September 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$600,896, 13 September 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Automatik, Low Spark Films, Signal Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The time period - firmly set in the 2014 era, with internet hacking and smartphones - was intertwined with props from a previous era - with cassette recorders and landline telephones. This was done on purpose, as director Eubanks felt the addition of "old tech" works as a possible misdirect.

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Goofs

The visual of Damon's face in his helmet keeps changing from normal to enlarged, as if the face-plate and side-plates are magnifying his head. They really are magnifying his head; the "glass" in these helmets is thick and irregularly curved, which causes a lens effect. That really is Laurence Fishburne wearing one on screen, and not a special effect.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Nic: Get going

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Soundtracks

2.3.5.41
Performed by Free the Robots and Nima Fakhrara
Written by Nima Fakhrara and Free The Robots
Courtesy of Elsewhere Studios & Cutting Edge Music (Holdings) Ltd
By arrangement with CEG Rights B.V.

User Reviews

For a $4 million budgeted movie it sure does looks amazing!

'THE SIGNAL': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Indie sci-fi thriller about three MIT students, on a road trip, who decide to chase down an infamous hacker (that almost got them expelled from school) and find something much more nightmarish. The film was directed by William Eubank; who also wrote and directed another ambitious indie sci-fi flick, in 2011, called 'LOVE' (which was produced by the popular alternative rock band 'Angels & Airwaves'). Eubank also wrote this film; with David Frigerio and Carlyle Eubank. It stars Brenton Thwaites, Laurence Fishburne, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp and Lin Shaye. I found it to be visually spectacular, and interesting enough, to make it a pretty entertaining thrill ride; despite a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion.

The film tells the story of Nic (Thwaites), Haley (Cooke) and Jonah (Knapp); three MIT students on a road trip to California. Nic and Jonah are dropping Haley off there and this has caused some troubles in Nic and Haley's relationship. Nic has muscular dystrophy issues, in his legs, that he also feels are causing Haley to not reach her full potential. While on the trip Nic and Jonah discover a hacker is in the area, named NOMAD, that almost got them expelled from school (for breaking into college servers). They decide to track him down and follow his signal to an old abandoned house in Nevada. Once there something else finds them and it might be some kind of weird government conspiracy, or something much worse.

The movie is full of big ideas, that aren't fully explained at all; most of the movie is left up to viewer interpretation. I respect films like that but this one just isn't quite satisfying enough. It's full of a lot of routine stylistic clichés but they are pretty cool to look at. For a $4 million budgeted movie it sure does looks amazing; I'm sure William Eubank has a big future ahead of him. The acting is decent enough and the story is intriguing. It's nowhere near the quality of a great sci-fi flick but it is a lot of fun; if you're a fan of the genre.

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