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“Siri… Call Sylvain”
Before we even meet the protagonist of the horror short film Signal, we hear her call out to her phone’s AI assistant. This sets up the expectation of a technology-driven horror story, but that’s not quite what unfolds.
Directed by Jérôme Pierrat, Signal takes place in a hospital where the lead character, Deborah (Coralie Denis), is injured, helpless, and trapped in her hospital bed with barely any battery left on her phone. She calls for help, but no one comes—except for a malicious entity.
At just over eight minutes long, the hospital setting and Deborah’s vulnerable state create an immediate sense of unease. Watching her struggle to twist her body and plug her phone into an unreachable charger is anxiety-inducing, especially as you dread the moment she might fall and worsen her injuries. The dim, gloomy, clinical atmosphere of the almost deserted hospital helps in keeping the tone dark and moody.
With plenty of blood, suspense, and supernatural events, Signal manages to keep the tension high until the end. However, the final minute introduces an unexpected moral twist, implying that Deborah is being tormented as punishment for being a greedy and unfaithful woman. For a French horror film to ‘punish’ its heroine for not being some idealistic virginal archetype feels regressive. Without that last-minute twist, Signal would have been a gritty, effective little horror film.
You can watch Signal on YouTube, it’s also embedded below.