“WTF did I just watch?  YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE.”

Reflection does suggest a few more things for me to say for this challenging sci-fi thriller, even if I did need a little subsequent help from Wikipedia to understand it.

It is beautifully shot and scored, and has strong performances from all of its actors.  It does just great at establishing mood, and setting up an unsettling mystery.  And it is good, old fashioned, hard-core science fiction.

I DO think it runs a bit long, and has big pacing problems.  Simply put, this film is too slow to be scary.  So it fails as a horror movie or thriller.  There is insufficient exposition about what is going on, even for an intentional “mind-bending” movie in the tradition of films like “12 Monkeys” (1995).  Can we really be scared or affected if we have so little understanding of what is actually happening onscreen?

I STILL have questions.  Why does the facility appear to have technology only from the 1970’s or 1980’s?  Why is one character homicidal?  Why are alarms going off?!

Still, it was interesting, challenging, and lovely to look at.  It’s worth a look, if you want a darker, demanding film that makes you think.

Anyway, there actually is another recent science-fiction thriller entitled “The Signal.”  It was made in 2007, and should please fans of well made formula films like “The Crazies” or “Dawn of the Dead.”  I actually enjoyed that low-budget genre film more than I enjoyed this.