M. Night Shyamalan Offers Chills, Laughs in ‘The Visit’

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
Average: 5 (1 vote)
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Director and auteur M. Night Shyamalan has been very spotty in the last nine years. “The Sixth Sense” filmmaker has had less of an impact with “After Earth” and “The Last Airbender,” but scores again with the super weird, creepy and funny “The Visit.”

Shyamalan has discovered the “found footage” genre (the movie is filmed by the characters) in a satirical way – two teens chronicle their visit for the first time to their grandparents– and does it his way, with crisp cinematography and flipped out images of dread and humor that both freezes and engages the soul. It’s funny to the point of stupidity – and it survives a tremendously unnecessary epilogue. I think M. Night has found a new niche, and will panic less about his reputation and begin to deliver more on his unrealized potential, based on his earlier works. And, with a tremendous boost right out the box in early September, “The Visit” might eventually be the Halloween Dream of 2015.

Olivia (Rebecca Jamison) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are sister and brother teenagers visiting their grandparents for the first time. Their mother Paula (Kathryn Hahn) had been estranged from her parents since becoming pregnant at 19 years old, and being thrown out of the house. Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) enthusiastically welcome their grandkids for a week at their isolated Pennsylvania farm.

Deanna Dunagan
Nana (Deanna Dunagan) Sits for an Interview in ‘The Visit’
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Strange things begin to occur as the visit commences. Nana has a tendency to roam the house after lights-out at 9:30pm (“Just stay in your room,” the kids are advised). Pop Pop has his own quirks, including a medical condition that becomes threatening. Mother Paula, in the meantime, is on a cruise, enjoying her first vacation in years. What could go wrong?

There are two lovely things working here. M. Night – who wrote and directed the film – is playing upon the creepy memories of exploring an old person’s house as children. It seems everyone has experienced that to a degree, depending on your grandparent relationships. Also, Shyamalan thumbs his nose at the “found footage” genre, by intentionally breaking all the rules of it. The cinematography is crisper than the cameras they are using, characters reposition the shot for best effect, and sometimes it seems like nobody is holding the equipment.

The centerpiece performance in the film is Deanna Dunagan as Nana, who was asked to do so many weird things, that by the end we are convinced that she is the only performer who could pull off the role. Peter McRobbie as Pop Pop has his own agenda, and as creepy currency it is as sound, but in a different thematic way. By the time the film is off the rails, it’s like Pop Pop was engineering the story train all along.

The humor in the film is especially enjoyable. Because the atmosphere that M. Night creates is so saturated, the slightest scene set-up can either be a laugh or a scare – and it’s not the obvious or silly laughs like “Scary Movie,’ but more caustic and brimming with satire. Playing out the humor in the scenario was vital for the film to work properly, because in each extreme moment, a relief oriented guffaw was not far behind, or was as surprising as a girl popping out from a birthday cake.

Ed Oxenbould
Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) Gets an Appropriate Greeting in ‘The Visit’
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Even Kathryn Hahn, currently my least favorite character actress, got some mojo working in the film, except for the ending. Preceding the epilogue was a magnificent, almost operatic reunion scene with her kids, and then the whole mood is killed by a fade-to-black, and then Paula’s final interview bromide to “end” the faux documentary within the film. This will probably be cause for the debate when the M. Night film school papers are written, and it’s so set apart from the rest of the proceedings that it could be the ultimate gag in the film – best to judge for yourselves.

What is nice about the M. Night “comeback” (and apparently those who saw his recent TV offering “Wayward Pines” opined the comeback had already begun), is that he again adds a bit of mystery to his legacy. This is absolutely vital if – as a director and auteur – he is in for the long haul. Don’t fade to black yet, M. Night.

”The Visit” is in theaters everywhere. Featuring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Rated “PG-13”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Writer, Editorial Coordinator
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2015 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
referendum
tracker