Review: The Signal

[City Paper grade: B-]

Cherrypicking the juiciest elements of the sci-fi and thriller genres, William Eubank orchestrates a moody world of mounting uncertainty in The Signal, though it ends up promising a little more than it's equipped to deliver. Egghead MIT students Nic (Brenton Thwaites) and Jonah (Beau Knapp), who are deep into a road trip to relocate Nic's girlfriend Hayley (Olivia Cooke) to California, come into contact with "Nomad," a malicious hacker whose dangerous antics nearly got them expelled from school. Tracking his IP address to a remote shack in Nevada, the kids are overcome by a mysterious and otherwordly force. They wake up in a creepy lab run by the chilly Damon (Laurence Fishburne) and a team of men in serious hazmat suits. Isolated from the others, Nic learns that he's been "exposed" to something, or someone, that necessitates such serious scientific measures, but Damon and his staff are slow to budge on what, or who, it might be. Eubank shows off a distinct, if occasionally melodramatic, visual style within the walls of this paranoia den, as well as the dusty, desolate desert setting that initially envelops this young threesome. Though he's able to craft some impressive looks with a comparatively small budget, the numbers can't be blamed for his problematic third act — definite points for ambition, but too loose and too broad to be permanently grasped.