William Eubank
The Signal

I have always believed that producing great science fiction films is not easy, especially today, either because in a certain sense, it is a "limited" genre, or because good directors must know how to blend the two basic concepts; in this case the words "fantasy" and "science," in such a way that they perfectly match each other, creating the right balance between fantasy and concrete reality.

In 2014, The Signal was released in American cinemas, a science fiction film written and directed by William Eubank, a director I was not familiar with, belonging (with this film) to the independent circuit of the Sundance Film Festival.

Eubank's intentions are clear, to direct a low-cost film that is not the classic predictable blockbuster. I must admit that the good intentions are all there... The film indeed, while dealing with themes already addressed in the history of cinema, such as alien abductions, still manages to shine with its own light, repeatedly capturing the viewer's imagination with beautiful fragmented images, but of remarkable poetry.

The story takes place in America, where two young MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students, namely Brenton Thwaites, the protagonist, and Beau Knapp, his best friend, accompanied by Brenton's girlfriend (Olivia Cooke), are lured, during a moving trip to the Southwest, by a clever and ingenious hacker.

Our heroes thus venture unaware, towards the unknown in a car under a stormy and threatening sky... To reach the source of the signal, which is an abandoned house in the state of Georgia... The best performance is undoubtedly, that of the veteran Laurence Fishburne, the only "substantial" actor in the entire film, who will enter the scene shortly after.

The soundtrack is very beautiful and fits very well with the screenplay, perhaps the director, in my opinion, makes an excessive use (especially towards the end), of Slow Motion, slowing everything down a bit too much. The film is a science fiction thriller, only at the end will the mystery be revealed, in a brief, intelligent, and spectacular way, there are even action-packed moments or heart-wrenching dramatic scenes.

The director also draws inspiration from great American literature figures like Philip K. Dick, paying homage with a line delivered by the talented Beau Knapp.

The peculiarity of this film is that, in part, it is financed by Low Spark Films, which is nothing but a rock band, of which I do not remember the name. I liked this film, and I recommend it, today's American cinema increasingly needs young directors like William Eubank... Credit where credit is due, enjoy the movie.