The Signal to leave . . .

Are you agitated??
     I certainly was.  After having waited in line for almost two hours, I had hoped that William Eubank's second sci-fi adventure would deliver as an epic journey of love, wit, and the chance to beat the ticking time-bomb against the explosion of something terrible.  The blurb written to promote the film under it's official documentation for Sundance, left me with the impression that I would be entertained, possibly surprised with a fast-pace and high-stakes story-line, and leave the theater with the understanding that I had once again been subject to a "non-conventional" love story.  This was obviously not the case.
     THE SIGNAL begins with a road trip as three college friends travel cross-country to help the only female of their group settle into a new life in California.  Having attended MIT, the boys re-encounter a hacker who framed them for committing an inside job on the school's servers, almost expelling them permanently.  He (or she) constantly messes with their minds, sending cryptic codes and messages including a repeat of the question: Are you agitated?  They are finally able to pick up a signal and trace this mysterious "Nomad" to an abandoned house out in the middle of the Nevada desert.  Sounds promising right?  I was mentally strapped in to encounter a whole series of horrors that would take them on an unforgettable chase to the truth.  Well, I was sort of right . . .
     This is where the first major twist in the movie appears, and the audience realizes they are now dealing with something supernatural.  Alright . . .still believable.  They black out and awake inside a low-efficient government lab who experimentally determine that they have been contaminated and must be rid of any connection with e.b.e. or extraterrestrial biological entities.  This is taken one step further when they each realize that a part of their body has been technologically modified, leaving the main character, Nick, with bionic legs of steel, his best friend, Jonah, with the same set of titanium appendages (except for arms), and we never really find out what the love interest, Haley, has gained during her time in the underground bunker.  In fact, we never truly learn the answer to anything.  The entire rest of the movie is spent trying to escape their captors, determining that they must be living proof that Area 51 exists, and that if they only drive a little farther, they will reach true civilization.  Wrong.
     Each scene simply continued to stitch together a series of ridiculous and weird scenarios, including a never-ending reel of slow motion shots that accomplished nothing but slowing the movie down even further.  Although, we never returned to what happened out in the desert, we are given several flashbacks into their lives as friends before they were affected by the world and its life-ruining powers.  But rather than clarifying any one of the fifty million questions and unending loopholes that abounded, each scene cuts short before revealing anything of meaning.  By the end of the film, Nick is able to "break the barrier" that he believes is holding everyone into this insanity.  He does so only to realize that he merely opened the door to the entire construct that is labeled as Area 51: a sparkly spaceship that floats infinitely into space.    
     Even during the Q&A with the director/ writer and the actors, it was clear that he saw a connection between the entire movie that just simply wasn't there.  Several audience members begged him to explain, but his only answer was, "The answer is in the fish."  Needless to say, he lost  his entire audience.  The only uptake was that the acting was pretty decent.  Did I mention that Laurence Fishburne played the bionic lab director who not only chased them the entire movie but also turned out to be Nomad?  Yeah, it's probably not worth mentioning since the arguable "King of Sci-fiction" delivered a highly underwhelming performance that only enhanced my frustration and the rest of the amateur acting.
     Of course, there is always some sort of hidden meaning that can be derived from THE SIGNAL.  Perhaps it was all just some giant metaphor for life and, as the director suggested, we are each supposed to impose our own meaning on the symbolism placed in front of us.  Personally, I think that's reading way too far into what the screenplay actually is.  The worst part is that Eubank fully intends to create a sequel.  Perhaps then we will be able to finally decode the meaning of the fish and Area 51 and aliens and the meaning of life and whatever else that movie was about!  So, now, let me ask you:  Are you agitated??