Movies like 22 Jump Street and How To Train Your Dragon 2 don't need any help at the box office. Variety reports that both films are expected to earn more than $50 million in sales this weekend. However, sci-fi fans should really take the chance to see William Eubank's The Signal. A Verge favorite from the Sundance Film Festival, genre aficionados will appreciate this a bit more than the mainstream fare currently in theaters.
Take a look.
The Signal, starring Laurence Fishburne and Maleficent's Brenton Thwaites, follows three MIT students on a road trip as they try to track down the location of a notorious hacker. Things go awry, however, when the group is mysteriously attacked and abducted.
Thwaites' character Nic wakes up to find himself under quarantine, and makes a desperate escape attempt. He fails, only to discover he's become the test subject, watched over by Dr. Wallace Damon (played by Fishburne) and other scientists in ominous-looking Hazmat suits.
That's when the mind games start. Nic is asked if he's had contact with what's only called "the signal." Of course, the nature of the signal and what it does to people is left...unclear.
But it isn't good.
As we mentioned during Sundance, The Signal is far from perfect and has a tendency to meander in service of its final twist. Indeed, it's already polarizing critics. However, Fishburne grounds the film with his sheer presence, and the stylish cinematography won audiences over when it premiered. With that in mind, it's definitely worth a look.