When I told people that I was going to see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit in theaters, the interaction was more reminiscent of a friend trying to stop someone who recently left an abusive relationship and is considering going back because the abusive partner changed. “I know! I know! But things are supposed to be better this time. After all, Wayward Pines was pretty good. On the other hand, it wasn’t his source material.” The person just looks at me like I’m a fool.
The breaking point was The Last Airbender, and I never even followed its earlier incarnation. It wasn’t for kids. It wasn’t for anyone. It was wretched and racist in terms of casting. There were earlier portents of the crap to come: The Village and Lady in the Water. They weren’t irredeemable projects, but they were worlds away in terms of story quality in comparison to The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. Unbreakable is actually one of my all time favorite movies despite the rushed they must have run out of money ending. I feel as if once Shyamalan lost Bruce Willis, the clock started ticking, but we didn’t know. I like The Happening like I like Rihanna’s Umbrella. The first time that I saw it, I thought, “DID I PAY FOR THIS?!?” followed by anger, but as I got repeatedly exposed to it, I liked it more. I haven’t even tried to watch After Earth. My mom will watch Will Smith in anything, has pretty awful taste in fictional movies and even she said, “That is OK. I don’t need to see it.” Gasp! Shyamalan made summer box office gold Will Smith unmarketable! He produced Devil, but he wisely buried his association with it. I enjoyed it, but it isn’t memorable and rarely if ever comes up in discussions.
So why am I willing to give him another chance? First I love fake documentaries so no matter what, I was going to see The Visit, would it be in the theater or at home. Second, someone else wanted to see it after seeing the preview, which is genuinely creepy.
The Visit is about a sister and brother, Hansel and Gretel (just kidding), visiting their estranged grandparents for the first time so they can give their single mother a week break with her new beau. Unfortunately weird stuff starts happening, and the kids aren’t sure if they’re going to make it for the whole week. The grandparents acknowledge the weirdness, but attribute the odd behavior to sunsetting and old age, which to anyone who isn’t a child or who has ever met even an old crazy person knows is not even close to the truth. The sister is making a documentary of the visit to bring closure and happiness for her mother, who didn’t leave on the best terms.
I think The Visit is probably better viewed in a big theater with a lot of people. It amplifies the scares and the humor. If I was at home, I would have guessed within five minutes what happened, but in the theater, I thought, “No, that is cliche or too similar to an urban legend,” and abandoned my analysis. Shyamalan effectively borrows imagery from J Horror, lingers on the outskirts of Cronenberg’s body horror and evokes fairy tale danger to amplify the tension. The Visit is a little self-conscious. By having the sister use film terms, and the brother becoming an amateur psychologist, Shyamalan heavy-handedly guides the audience into obvious different narrative twists. By the time that the grandfather gets his monologue, it is a bit much. We get it! The casting is pretty effective, particularly Kathryn Hahn, who plays the mother. Initially the brother is annoying-he raps, but eventually he becomes humorous. Deanna Dunagan, who plays Nana, deserves an award for being able to physically accomplish what she did, especially when playing with the kids. I cannot do that now!
The Visit isn’t going to make any end of the year top ten movie lists. If Shyamalan is lucky enough to get honored by Kennedy Center, it won’t make the retrospective clip reel, but it isn’t wretched and is a pleasing scary diversion.