Michael Keaton plays successful architect Jonathan Rivers, whose peaceful existence is shattered by the unexplained disappearance and death of his wife, Anna. Jonathan is eventually contacted by a man, who claims to be receiving messages from Anna through EVP. At first skeptical, Jonathan then becomes convinced of the reality of the messages. He is soon obsessed with trying to contact her on his own. His further explorations into EVP and the accompanying supernatural messages unwittingly open a door to another world, allowing something uninvited into his life.

The idea of an EVP-based thriller/horror movie is very good. It could have been a success, if only the story had been developed further. The term "white noise" hasn't much to do with EVPs. When Jonathan first meets Raymond Price, he tells him that the voices and visuals are not "live", you have to record and then listen to the playback. But at the end of the film, when Jonathan's ex-wife is sitting in the car with his young son, you hear the voice come over the static radio. This was therefore live and not a recording! Rivers goes out to save people, which leaves EVPs out. The storyline itself is plain boring.

We know nothing about the bad shadows, nothing about how they manipulate other deads and why they lead Rivers from one accident to another. Are they evil spirits? Murders who cannot leave Earth? Why are they free to kill? I admit the voices of these bad shadows do create some scary moments. The ending is quite cruel.

White Noise introduces the electronic voice phenomena to the public. Special contents in the DVD edition feature actual EVPs and members of the  in action.