Pulse: Movie Review

The movie Pulse is a great pull you in thriller that doesn't let go until after the end. Your imagination brings you deeper into the story because any one of the characters could be you. Why? Because the story is based on the idea of the commonality of cell phones and other types of digital communication in our everyday lives.

The plot of the movie begins the first few minutes with a death, then a few 'disturbances'. The will to live is stolen, and one by one a small group of friends begin to die of suicide. But they aren't the only ones. A rash of suicides has been escalated into a public emergency when suicide starts to become as common a choice as fries with lunch.

Several suicides literally hit the streets in front of our eyes. The alternative though, of becoming a black ash type of substance, is not much better. A pretty girl explains to another how she wants to die, but is to afraid to do it. One young man stands next to a wall with a butcher knife in his hand screaming that he doesn't want to die, right before his body is claimed by the wall, leaving a long mark of black ash behind.

Their fight to survive begins, as they discover the dead are coming back for everyone. The lines between digital technology and the paranormal is fuzzy in the beginning, but it is soon known why the dead are able to use our technology against us. And what the new definition of the dead zone is.

Pulse is populated with quality acting and script writers. Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars, Christina Milian from Love Don't Cost A Thing, Ian Somerhalder from Lost and Rick Gonzalez from Coach Carter bring the plot from being an idea to reality, if even for only 88 minutes. But, even with these recognizable members, once the plot begins to thicken, it is the only thing you notice.

The movie did lightly touch on some questions that suicide leaves behind with friends and family. One of the strongest is, "Why didn't I see the signs that would have alerted me to what was going through their mind?" I imagine that the answer that Pulse watchers will hear is one that might be given by well meaning people in real life, and for that reason I think the director should have prevented an answer to the young woman's guilt. But other than that one small thing, this movie is perfect.