[Film Review] Signal 100 (2019)

Based on the manga of the same name, Lisa Takeba’s Signal 100 recalls other films. In particular, the similarities to Battle Royale (2000) are impossible to ignore.

A group of high school students forced by a vengeful teacher to participate in a heinous death game: the premise came ready-made. Signal 100, however, approaches the game from a supernatural angle, rather than a dystopian one. Here, the vindictive teacher, Shimobe (Shidō Nakamura, on fine villainous form), hypnotises the students, binding them in a suicidal pact. He reveals that there are one hundred triggers – or ‘signals’ – but refuses to disclose them all. Then he swiftly steps off the balcony. Trapped in the school overnight, the students are forced to choose between solidarity and survival. At the heart of this is Reina (Kanna Hashimoto). A mostly passive character, she nonetheless anchors the film and leads us towards an inevitably bloody conclusion.

Predictably, battle lines are drawn almost at once. Inscrutable Wada (Toshiki Seto) enlists allies when he finds a library book with crucial information, but others question his intentions. Formerly petty rivalries boil into murderous rages. Suspicious fingers point, and accusations fly. Despite this, there is hope. Most striking is the film’s tenderness. Teenage histrionics notwithstanding, it is clear how much these kids love each other. They cradle their dead friends’ heads in their laps, hold their cold hands, and futilely wipe blood from self-inflicted wounds. For all Signal 100’s flaws, its presentation of friendship and tragedy is not one of them. Indeed, the emotional climax concerning Wada and golden boy Sota (Yuta Koseki) lands especially well. That crying is one of the many suicide-signals only heightens the tragedy.

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It is worth noting also that for a film with such a provocative premise, the suicide theme is remarkably well-handled, though it steers clear of pointed commentary. Shimobe’s flippant invocation of such a twisted revenge tactic, meanwhile, reads as evil for evil’s sake – both in-universe, and in the script. Once again, the allusion to Battle Royale is obvious, though Shimobe regrettably lacks the complexity of Takeshi Kitano’s vengeful teacher. Arguably, Yusuke Watanabe and Arata Miyatsuki’s screenplay is more interested in exploring the many suicide-signals and the gruesome ways in which the students respond to them than in making any serious comment on the topic itself. In the end, though, the film attempts a careful, respectful exploration. The students also rightfully call out attempts to trigger suicides for what they really are: murder.

Throughout, Signal 100 struggles with tone. The allusions to Battle Royale suggest an attempt to capture its tonal balancing-act: how it shifts from tragedy to melodrama, stylishly violent and darkly comic. One of the key set-pieces takes place in the sports hall. It aims for absurdity – a theatrical, grisly highlight (its version of Battle Royale’s lighthouse sequence, perhaps) – but the scene barely registers. Aside from one or two visually impressive deaths, the suicides are also unexciting. The practical effects are welcome; blood-drenched floors and walls and clothes undeniably add texture. One suicide, though, is rendered entirely in CGI, which drains much of its power. The film’s distance from the reality of suicide suggests a desire to depict as many violent, affronting methods as possible. On this front, however, the film is fairly tame.

All in all, Signal 100 does not entirely come together. Its surprising tenderness, gruesome suicides, and delightfully bizarre conclusion never coalesce. While certainly not an unwelcome addition to the death game genre, the film would have benefited from clearer intentions. It is possible to marry a bold, bloody, provocative horror film to a tender, tragic melodrama, but Signal 100 does not manage it. It seems unwilling or unable to commit in either direction. Leaning into its inherently provocative premise may have better served the final product. As it stands, Signal 100 is not unfairly destined for comparisons to better films.

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