The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Signal
Horror · Science Fiction · Thriller · 2007
A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.
Movie details
The Signal
“Do you have the crazy?”
2007 Horror · Science Fiction · Thriller 1h 43m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Signal?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Afraid
Horror · 2024
Curtis Pike and his family are selected to test a new home device: a digital assistant called AIA. AIA observes the family's behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs. And she can – and will – make sure nothing – and no one – gets in her family's way.
Containment
Thriller · 2015
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Double Blind
Horror · 2024
After an experimental drug trial goes awry, the test subjects face a terrifying side effect: if you fall asleep you die. Trapped in an isolated facility, panic ensues as they try to escape and somehow stay awake.
Black Box
Horror · 2026
A routine domestic flight turns into the flight from hell through a series of inexplicable phenomena and raw terror. Surreal encounters blur the boundaries between reality and nightmare. Passengers fight against all the odds in an attempt to survive while combating bizarre technological malfunctions, accelerating supernatural events and alien influences.
Land of the Dead
Horror · 2005
The living dead have taken over the world, and the remaining humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they cope with the situation.
Dark Light
Horror · 2019
A woman returns to her family home and discovers it to be inhabited by monsters.
Die Alone
Horror · 2024
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Margaux
Horror · 2022
As a group of seniors celebrate their final college days at a smart house, the house's highly advanced AI system, Margaux, begins to take on a deadly presence of her own. A carefree weekend of partying turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realize Margaux's plans to eliminate her tenants one way or another. Time begins to run out as the group desperately tries to survive and outsmart the smart home.
Frankenstein Unbound
Horror · 1990
The ultimate weapon, claimed to be safe for mankind, produces global side-effects including time slides and disappearances. The scientist behind the project and his car are zapped from the year 2031 to 1817 in Switzerland where he meets Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and others.
Books of Blood
Horror · 2020
A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
David Bruckner · Dan Bush · Jacob Gentry
Written by
David Bruckner · Jacob Gentry · Dan Bush
Anessa Ramsey
Mya Denton
Justin Welborn
Ben Capstone
AJ Bowen
Lewis Denton
Scott Poythress
Clark
Sahr Ngaujah
Rod
Lindsey Garrett
Laura
Chad McKnight
Jim Parsons
Court is in session
Put The Signal on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.