Jake McLaughlin Sees Too Much in ‘Site'—And So Do We
“You saw it? Just tell me you saw it!”
That line, yanked from the freshly dropped trailer for Site, hits like a fevered whisper in a darkened theater. It's desperate. Unstable. Kind of like the movie itself. And no, that's not a bad thing.
Directed by Jason Eric Perlman (Threshold), Site is the kind of high-concept, low-gloss sci-fi that arrives quietly and burrows under your skin. McLaughlin plays Neil Bardo, a blue-collar father whose reality begins to unravel after an encounter at a decommissioned military test site. The premise? Think The Jacket meets Primer, but with more emotional fallout and less math.
He sees visions. Hallucinations, maybe. Glitches in time, probably. His son gets hurt. His past leaks into his present. Something is wrong with the world—or with him. And that, right there, is the movie's pulse.
There's a shot in the trailer—blink and you'll miss it—where McLaughlin's Neil stares at himself in a mirror, but the reflection lags half a second behind. It's not a flashy effect. It's cheap, almost. But it works. Site doesn't try to wow you with spectacle; it wants to make you question everything. Time. Guilt. Perception. Parenthood.
And look, maybe I'm reading too much into a trailer. But there's something here.
Let's talk cast. Jake McLaughlin (Quantico, Savages) isn't just serviceable—he's magnetic. His performance in the trailer is all twitchy vulnerability and quiet dread. Arielle Kebbel, Theo Rossi, Miki Ishikawa, and Clyde Kusatsu round out a surprisingly stacked indie ensemble. These aren't background players; they're keys to a mystery that looks more emotional than it is explosive.
Behind the camera, Perlman seems to be reaching. Not in the pejorative sense—he's grasping for ideas bigger than his budget, themes deeper than his frames. His first feature Threshold was a thoughtful slow burn; Site feels like the next step in that evolution. Bigger risks. Higher concept. Less safety net.
Here's what's confirmed: Site premieres on August 7, 2025, in select U.S. theaters and on VOD via Blue Fox Entertainment. No festival buzz, no red carpet. Just the story and the screen.
Is it polished? No. But maybe that's the point.
In an era where sci-fi often leans too clean (hello, Apple TV+), Site dares to be messy. Emotionally raw. Technologically incoherent, even. And isn't that what time travel should feel like? Not smooth loops—but jagged edges?
So yeah, I'm intrigued. Maybe too intrigued. And maybe that's exactly what Site wants.
Saw an early draft. Good SF! Yeah, left me feeling all jangled (in a good way) thanks to the performances and direction. There are several scenes that stuck with me for months, especially between father and son.
Appreciate also the clear sound of the actors despite the intriguing noises that keep you focused on wanting to know why!