THE SIGNAL. Science fiction where space isn’t silent, but we are [REVIEW]

Available on the Netflix platform, “The Signal” is a calmly developing science fiction piece by German creators. After “Paradise,” I had high hopes for another sci-fi production from Germany. They have ideas that deserve better visual execution, but that impression lingered with me after “Paradise.” Now, once again, the idea did not disappoint, and the execution, for a European SF miniseries, turned out to be much more skillful. The story also received more time to unfold, which is important. However, not so much (4 episodes) as to suffer from narrative sprawl, which is very burdensome especially for the science fiction genre. “Sygnał” is a surprisingly engaging adventure on Earth, and Earth is in space. Too often, we imagine it as a separate, human world, as accurately pointed out in “Sygnał.” It brought to mind Robert Zemeckis’ “Contact,” which had a similarly critical message.

Yet, we tend to be deaf to reality because cultural overlays obscure it. We prefer to interpret our surroundings with tried-and-tested templates, even in the realm of space, rather than risk a theory that threatens our security, although it often is just a thought experiment. “The Signal” is precisely such a thought experiment for viewers who will likely embrace the more obvious explanation, but find the exceptionally improbable ones. There are many clues in the plot. The story of the missing astronaut Paula (Peri Baumeister) is presented on all levels for better understanding, but the ultimate decision on which solution to accept as true lies with the viewers. And therein lies the magic of this series. Similarly, with the main concept. No one wants to hide from the viewers what is in the secret documents or what lies in Paula’s found message with the recurring word “Halo.” The essence of the plot lies in what people want to do with this message, how they behave in the face of doom, or simply in the face of verifying all our human imaginings. Do we want them to be verified? Will we be ready for such truth? It’s obvious that we’re not. We are still too immature a species, and technological advancement does not help us move forward. Ideology stands in the way. Only its removal in favor of a purely rational view will allow us to accept cosmic otherness not as hostility.

“The Signal” is a miniseries consisting of 4-hour-long episodes, in which the plot is presented in two threads. One runs according to the arrow of time, and the other against it. With each episode, we learn more until in the 4th, the timelines converge, creating a coherent storyline. The main characters are Sven (Florian David Fitz) and Charlie (Yuna Bennett), father and daughter, who are drawn into a mysterious and dangerous sequence of events that could revolutionize life on Earth. The series utilizes various genres – mainly science fiction, but also psychological drama, crime film, thriller, and even comedic elements at times. There are two main settings – the space station and Earth. Both deserve attention because they are skillfully designed. There’s no longer a feeling that European cinema lags behind American grand visions of science fiction. Additionally, the creators of “Sygnał” respect the viewer greatly, ensuring a high level of tension from the first minutes to the surprising finale, which is hard to anticipate, although once everything is revealed, it seems that someone played a good joke on us. And we were terribly naive not to have guessed everything in the first episode. I hope that after watching the ending, viewers will feel something more – a rationally justified anger towards the human race, and this will certainly be helped by the common knowledge about the activities of the UN and solving the problem of the recent Covid-19 pandemic by the international community, which for some reason suddenly disappeared from public discourse. All these references, among many others, can be found in the series, and the invented science fiction story cleverly shows our multinational foolishness or, as described in the series, our unworthiness and immaturity for contact with any alien civilization.

“The Signal” production is not perfect. The music sometimes seems overly sentimental, and Paula’s scenes evoke romance rather than science fiction. Flaws are also visible in the visual aspect, but this was probably due to a modest budget. However, the creators were aware of this, so they maximized the technical possibilities of CGI within the available funds. However, the shortcomings are mainly in the narrative, especially the side plots. If you watch it, pay attention to the abandoned storyline of the two police officers, who could have been useful later in the story. Similarly, the storyline of the older prepper woman, who hid in a shelter, was abruptly cut off, and nothing more came of it, even though it was suggested from the first episode that she had a much bigger role to play in the events. The villain also seems somewhat predictable, and in the finale, his foolish decisions are glaringly obvious. And what about the actions of the German government – they were present, and suddenly they stopped? However, these are all details because, aside from the final twist, I hope viewers will appreciate the high quality of acting, the interesting portrayal of the father-daughter relationship, where the daughter is a deaf person, and the scenes shot on the space station, where a quite decent suspenseful intrigue unfolds. “Sygnał” remains in memory, or rather in emotions, where you can feel the uncomfortable rebellion that such a critically true reference of the series to reality exists, and it is by no means positive, even though it’s a science fiction production. However, I fear that it will take hundreds of years before we globally draw any conclusions and truly change the world, but will “Halo” then turn out to be our chance, or a painful greeting from the apocalypse?