And then—kaboom! A few events occur that force a movie reboot, if you will, and the setting shifts to an underground bunker. Nic is wounded, disoriented, doesn’t know where he is or what happened; he’s interrogated by a fellow who identifies himself as Damon (played with his patented combination of reassurance and sternness by Laurence Fishburne) and who wears, as does everyone else in the facility, a space suit. The highly alarmed and confused Nic learns that he could very well have been the victim of an "EBE," that is, an Extraterrestrial Biological Entity. Sounds icky, and judging by the black stuff that sometimes turns up on the walls of the very clean facility, it is.

And here’s where I’d better stop giving up plot information. Suffice it to say that "The Signal" continues to get weirder, and creepier, and to bring up unusual questions for the viewer. Such as, why does Fishburne’s character use a cassette recorder to interview Nic? And what’s with the bright red briefcase with a pistol in it? Well, you will find out. Eubank, who is also a cinematographer, clearly had a blast concocting this movie’s shifting, unpredictable but quite internally consistent design, which makes the plot’s multiple convolutions extremely effective. Once the picture’s over and all (or at least the most significant) questions are answered, it’s possible that a certain amount of disappointment will set in. I generally never go into a movie with the aim of outsmarting it, but the denouement of "The Signal" left me not just with a gratifyingly flummoxed "Why didn’t I see that coming?" feeling but also a naggingly empty one. That’s what I meant about irritation; an irritation I didn’t feel about, say, Duncan Jones’ maybe equally tricky "Moon." In any event, Eubank’s talent is not at all in doubt, and science-fiction mavens who embrace this picture will rightly be excited for whatever he turns to next.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46tn55lo560r63LZmlpaWQ%3D