| Director | Sebastian Hilger, Philipp Leinemann |
| Producers | Fahri Yardim, Christian Springer, Amir Hamz |
| Cast | Florian David Fitz, Peri Baumeister, Yuna Bennett, Nilam Farooq, Hadi Khanjanpour, Katharina Schüttler, Sheeba Chaddha |
| Genre | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller |
| Episodes | 4 |
| Native Title | Das Signal |
– No Spoilers –
The Signal immediately gave me AppleTV+’s Constellation vibe the moment I started watching it. A female astronaut finds something in space and her husband and young child are left in the lurch at the discovery of stuff we saw in the latter a few weeks ago. However, don’t let the names and general plot fool you – the two shows are completely different and focus on different things. While Constellation was a riveting and emotional watch, Netflix’s German sci-fi thriller takes its time to get to the point and is much shorter.
However, the short length of the series doesn’t make up for this many moments where it really dredges through the mud to get to its point. Although there truly are moments which will amuse and thrill you, they are very far between and make you want to skip through. The main point of the German thriller is, well, aliens, but the fear and thrill of it are really missing for most of its runtime at first. That being said, we get to feel Paula’s family’s anguish and desperation, especially the effect on her daughter Charlie as she and Sven try to figure out what happened to Paula.
The main story here is that Paula and another astronaut are sent up to space to figure out what lies beyond our planet – aliens and something else. It’s just another billionaire wanting something that we shouldn’t want or need. The results are surprising and exciting and of course, things go wrong which makes Sven dive into Paula’s last cryptic message to him before disappearing.
The Signal evolves over its runtime in a way that brings many different things together in order to create a very interesting narrative as time goes on. I must say that cutting a few things off and condensing the runtime just a bit would’ve made for a better watch but there’s still something extremely interesting in the story that keeps you guessing. You wonder if whatever has happened is a big conspiracy of some kind, a hallucination in Paula’s head or entirely true. The answers trickle down quite slowly and make for a thrilling watch, especially towards the end.
The one thing that I really didn’t like or quite understand the point of is the subplot surrounding the grieving people. I am not getting into too many details, but that addition seemed rather silly and became an unnecessary addition to an already engaging and mysterious story. We spend too much time behind this one guy with fake blood on his hands for some reason, so much so that it dilutes the thrill and takes away from the seriousness of the situation.
Another aspect that felt a bit juvenile is Sheeba Chaddha’s Benisha Mudhi, who is a fun character but who gets more and more unbelievable as time goes on. With the alternative theme of the series, you’d expect the series to take a different turn with all of its characters but Mudhi feels like just another person who is worth the hate and doesn’t do anything novel. There was scope to do something more, something surprising and out of the ordinary but in the end, it’s sadly predictable.
But, even then, The Signal is an intense and thrilling watch with some dull moments in between that will leave you guessing throughout. It’s short enough to not get on your nerves and has enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge. However, will all the tension and the intrigue pay off in the end? Does Earth get a visitor from outer space? I think the ending is poignant but also a bit of a letdown. It’s more emotional than anything else but doesn’t scratch the itch much.
The Signal Review: Conclusion
Netflix’s German sci-fi series The Signal is a thrilling, sometimes dull and sometimes silly ride through space and talks about human greed and its heartbreaking effects. The loss of lives is just one of the horrible outcomes of it but whether or not the ending will satisfy everyone is up to personal taste. Personally, it doesn’t scratch the itch but I was left intrigued right up till the last minute. It also does a great job with the characters and their relationship and is surprisingly emotional but it’s not a memorable experience and is great for a one-time watch.
The Signal is streaming on Netflix.
Øøøhhh where is the aliens?!!? The the cops and their boss looks likes aliens but thats all i guess,
Im haf way trough episode 3 and still bored, a women on the spacetation going sligty nuts,
I dont bother too much with the talk parts its politic and police stuff,
Now that guy who treathen the main guy driving around with bigger smile than joker himself, HES A ALIEN if he dies in real world i will dance on his fucking grave,
Too short with 4 episodes, i have already forgotten what the other was about,
Exept in the first episode, where the lady in the space capasule uses 49 seconds to unfold parashutes, the landet and get picked up,
But the suddenly its about a plane with 170 people dies, how did she cause that, dId she had a twin that started too yell ALLAH ACKBAR on the plane and down it goes,
I may be fucked up in the head here but im not watching this EVER AGAIN, there is a very few momenst in there but its only like 1 per episode NOT WORTH IT,
my score: 1.5 of 5 A 3 STAR WTF??!???…..
I think the series really had its mooments and the idea is intersting. But they couldn’t bring all of it together.
Not so much too see here move the fuck on with your fucjed up life instead, if this was suppose to be a alien tv show, atleast make up an alien to show it, otherwise too short to make it intresting too watch at all…..
Episode 3 in the end WHY THE FUCK DID THAT FUCKING GUY DO THAT TOO THE WOMEN in the spacestation, I COULD NOT STAND THE 10 MIMUTTES TALKING AND EXUCES HE HAD,
Confusing mess with almost BACKFKASH MEMORIES EVERY 5 MINUTTES, its was starting too get good in the end of episode 3 then the usally military gets involed, and they doing what they goid at (screwing up things)
Nothing to like or remember here….
Whats with the no comments some places!?? Then the russian guys on spacestation talks and that evil old indian haggis is on screen?!?
They should have texts on this places in the show, i and hopfully other have a hard time especial in the last episode then evrything shall be told,
Turn up the volume very loud, loud enought to bother the poeple that lives next too you in the next house, or is it only my tv problem or fucked up netflix?!??! Its weird like this show, AND GOD DAMN I HATE THE ENDING THIS INDIAN BULLSHIT, (nothing personal against them, the ritual stuff us bothersome).
Yes they really fell off with the ritual thing. I am Indian and even I felt a little meh.
In Episode 1 at 21 minutes 12 seconds, there is what looks like a cockroach behind Paula’s head crossing left to right in the top of the orbiter’s doorway. I thought it was part of the plot as it appears quite large in the background. Watch it again. Please comment.
Good review, but I wasn’t as kind 1.5 stars. . I agree it was well made, and keeping it 4 episodes kept the failed ending a little easier to swallow. But still I choked on it. The message is a little more clear as this reviewer well points out. But the message was so naive and inane, it wasted good acting, good direction.