Review of The Signal (2014) by Kristopher S — 02 Nov 2014

Eubank's Love (2011) was such a masterpiece that I brought some heavy expectations to his second film. I was much disappointed and it is sad, because I really wanted to like this one. It is a pity as well that while the craftsmanship in various fields is stunning, eventually the story is weak and unconvincing and doesn't justify the artistic vision. It is easy to see how the performances by the young trio, the beautiful landscape shots and some cutting edge post-production ideas will be solid portfolio material for the respective artists, but sometimes outstanding ingredients can't produce good results.

Yes, I did understand how this was not REALLY about aliens vs humans, or analog vs digital or organic bodies vs machine bodies, but rather about human relationships: about loss, sacrifice, survival, friendship. Just like Nick, we are not given the answers we seek but the answers we need. We do not find ultimate truths beyond our social reality but are directed back to square one, self-discovery. I get this.

So I liked parts of it and might be interested to watch it all again, to give it another chance because of the director. But as a whole, I didn't much enjoy the ride and will probably not remember it for long either.