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:

R U Agitated?

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reunites Olivia Cooke with Lin Shaye after Ouija (2014).

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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

Nic: The truth of the matter? What is the truth of the matter here? The only thing I know for certain is that you don't know what you're dealing with. You will be pulled from this shitty little shack you call a research facility so fast that the only thing relevant to be shown for any of this is the way it's all exposed, wrecked, and forgotten. You have *no* idea! You have no clue! Do you? Have any clue how fast dumb, lost little kids like me, Jonah, or Nomad could ruin a place like this? Have it ...

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Soundtracks

Union
Performed by Deptford Goth
Written by Daniel Woolhouse
Courtesy of Merok/[PIAS] Cooperative

User Reviews

Not what I was expecting - in a good way!

From the trailer I expected The Signal to be a sort of Blair Witch take on an alien encounter with some retro, creep-tastic Hazmat encounters. While there were certainly elements of that in the film, the actual storyline exceeded my expectations, as did the philosophical undercurrent to the film. This is a movie that explores the dichotomy of human nature, specifically the war between logic and reason, and emotion. These characters are fighting themselves as much as they are extrinsic factors. Kudos to the Brenton Thwaites (an actor I'd never heard of before now) for keeping me emotionally and mentally engaged throughout the movie and holding his own against the filmic might of Laurence Fishburne.

In short, this felt a bit like Dark City meets Signs, and I really enjoyed the weird twists and turns in a narrative I fully expected to be formulaic and predictable.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2014 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Signal

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$155,642, 15 June 2014

Gross USA:

$600,896

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,595,622

Company Credits

Production Co:

Automatik Entertainment, Low Spark Films, Signal Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (uncredited) SDDS (uncredited)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1