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The Signal

PG-13 Released Jun 13, 2014 1h 37m Mystery & Thriller Sci-Fi List
61% Tomatometer 90 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A surprise awaits three college students (Brenton Thwaites, Beau Knapp, Olivia Cooke) who think they have tracked a rival computer hacker to a shed in the Nevada desert.
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The Signal

The Signal

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Critics Consensus

Director William Eubank clearly has big ideas and an impressive level of technical expertise; unfortunately, The Signal fritters them away on a poorly constructed story.

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Critics Reviews

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Mark Kermode Observer (UK) It's a movie of ideas rather than spectacle (Philip K Dick's dreamy electric sheep are inevitably invoked) with some well realised visual effects (a la Ex Machina) giving it genre legs. Rated: 3/5 Mar 29, 2015 Full Review Leslie Felperin Guardian Sadly, this flubs the landing with a banal and credulity-stretching finale that feels like a bad Twilight Zone episode, but the first hour or so is terrific. Rated: 3/5 Mar 26, 2015 Full Review Sophie Monks Kaufman Little White Lies Pity the poor actors trapped in a cinematographer's world. Rated: 2/5 Mar 26, 2015 Full Review David Bax Battleship Pretension For a movie full of surprises in its narrative, there are none beneath its surface. Mar 4, 2021 Full Review Brent McKnight The Last Thing I See What The Signal lacks in character development and standard plot mechanics, it more than makes up for in mood, tone, and atmosphere. Rated: B- Jul 7, 2020 Full Review Julian Lytle Punch Drunk Critics Here is something new and original on the screen with fresh faces that didn't cost the GDP of a small country to make. Rated: 4/5 Jan 11, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (601) audience reviews
Waniya S Oh well, i didn't enjoy it a single bit Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/28/24 Full Review Webb V Good Sci-fi starts off with a believable premise: Check Good Sci-fi bonds on screen characters to viewers: Check Good Sci-fi answers are incomplete and spawn more questions : Check Good Sci-fi leaves the viewer feeling not 'as full' as the want to be: Check It's storyline holds up from beginning to end. The Signal is good Sci-fi. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/09/24 Full Review Will S we need a second one because the story is not finished and it only gets good in the second half of the movie, please complete this story! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/04/24 Full Review Jesko S I like the idea behind it, although it never became clear whether the protagonists were kidnapped or not. You spent the whole time wondering how this could have happened, until it was only clarified at the end. For me, it was extremely interesting and also plausible in this context. Reminds me a bit of the movie “Dark City”. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/21/24 Full Review Simon J A bit mind bending at first and somewhat slow. Never upbeat but worth sticking with as it takes a different view on the sci fi side. Worth a watch Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/20/24 Full Review Kit G The acting, the way it's filmed and the mood is good. The thing is, there are moments in the story that make it feel forced somehow. As if the writer just couldn't conceive a better way to make the story "work". It made me want to stop watching at least twice. Glad I finished it though. I liked the ending. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/15/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Signal

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Cast & Crew

Midnight Special 83% 67% Midnight Special TRAILER for Midnight Special Project Almanac 38% 45% Project Almanac Super 8 81% 75% Super 8 TRAILER for Super 8 Air 17% 23% Air Rememory 25% 43% Rememory TRAILER for Rememory Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A surprise awaits three college students (Brenton Thwaites, Beau Knapp, Olivia Cooke) who think they have tracked a rival computer hacker to a shed in the Nevada desert.
Director
William Eubank
Producer
Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Tyler Davidson
Screenwriter
William Eubank, Carlyle Eubank, David Frigerio
Distributor
Focus Features
Production Co
Low Spark Films, Automatik
Rating
PG-13 (Some Thematic Elements|Language|Violence)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 13, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 9, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$597.4K
Runtime
1h 37m
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