The Visit is a film theaters haven’t shown in a
long while—a GOOD M. Night Shyamalan film!
And not just any good film, but one which is spoopy, scary fun!
After the disastrous adaptation which is The Last Airbender (Shyamalan’s true horror film), the name M. Night Shyamalan held a foul quality—a warning sign of films to avoid. I evaded his new releases like the plaque, yet was nonetheless persuaded to see The Visit thanks to my wife’s enthusiasm for horror and a notable fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Visit reveals M. Night Shyamalan still has a spark left for the scary and unexpected, plus a rarely seen comical side that’s actually intentional.
After the disastrous adaptation which is The Last Airbender (Shyamalan’s true horror film), the name M. Night Shyamalan held a foul quality—a warning sign of films to avoid. I evaded his new releases like the plaque, yet was nonetheless persuaded to see The Visit thanks to my wife’s enthusiasm for horror and a notable fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Visit reveals M. Night Shyamalan still has a spark left for the scary and unexpected, plus a rarely seen comical side that’s actually intentional.
The Visit primarily uses the found footage
style popularized by The Blair Witch
Project. The story follows siblings
Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) as they visit their
grandparents (Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan) for the first time—both estranged
by the kids’ mother (Kathryn Hahn) for a fight which happened 15 years
ago. Of course the trip takes a turn for
the weird and disturbing when the grandparents begin acting strange and
downright frightening. The Visit follows the entire week trip,
divided between days as events get progressively worse for the siblings—the
typical style seen in found footage cinema, such as the aforementioned Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Unlike the former two however, comedy plays a
key role in The Visit. Cynics will find difficulty bashing the
film’s absurdity with its sizable amount of humorous self-awareness, yet
fascinatingly it’s the silliness which keeps the thrills so effective.
SPOILERS BEGIN: The
Visit surprises its viewers with a great horror scene uncharacteristically
early into the film, when Rebecca and Tyler play hide-and-seek underneath the house. The scene occurs in broad daylight, during
the first day—the usual sign for exclusively minor jump scares. Yet suddenly the siblings’ grandmother
appears charging at them, crawling on all fours with her face concealed in
hair—looking disturbingly similar to the girl from The Ring. The scene is
terrifyingly out-of-nowhere, with the overly energetic grandmother revealing it
a “playful” antic to the two frightened teens—swiftly leaving to go make
dinner, the scuttling having partially uplifted her skirt for an exposing butt
shot. A jump cut to a puzzled Rebecca
shrugging off the understandably bizarre event ends the scene on a hilariously relatable
note—having the protagonists just as confused as the viewers. The scene is a balanced mix between comically weird
and unexpectedly disturbing, which nicely sums up The Visit’s entire plot. SPOILERS
END
Here’s something crazy, a modern M. Night Shyamalan twist
which is actually good! The “what a
twist” line isn’t being sarcastically used—there’s actually a pretty good
surprise in The Visit, hidden through
clever self-referential misdirection. Nonetheless,
the truly unexpected event comes from the starring teens’ character designs and
acting chemistry. Both actors deliver impressive
performances playing very likable characters; I’ve previously praised Oxenbould
for his performance in Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and find no reason to discontinue
here. As Tyler, Oxenbould delivers a
large display of amusing expressions and lines; his comedy is highly
entertaining—effective even during the creepiest scenes—all without
inappropriately diminishing the tension (the kid’s also got some half-decent
rapping skills). Not to overshadow
DeJonge (who I’ve previously never seen in media), who plays her role as the
snarky, caring, and clever (yet too curious for her own good) older sister with
genuine emotional impact. The actors
feel natural as siblings—there’s a scene where Tyler freaks out over a stain on
his hand (the teen’s a germophobe) and Rebecca serenely and caringly calms him
down before finding some tissue paper. The
scene is unnecessary to the plot (other than to highlight Tyler’s phobia), yet
builds upon the sibling’s bond—a rare development to find in similar horror films.
While comedy differentiates The Visit from the usual found footage horror genre, it’s Rebecca
and Tyler’s bonds (between themselves and their mother) and character
development which truly help it stand out.
There’s an intriguing deviation between days which focuses not on horror
or comedy, but on the siblings’ personalities and feelings about their
estranged dad—detailing deeper, emotional thoughts bordering on psychological examination. It’s remarkable to see such detail put into
horror protagonists, particularly when Shyamalan risks “boring” his primary
income of ADHD fueled teenagers. I wanted
Rebecca and Tyler to get their happy ending, to not be tortured and/or killed
by the finale. I cared for the
protagonists, all while having a spoopy, scary time—which is far from what I
expected entering an M. Night Shyamalan film, and the nicest thing I’ve said
about him in a long time.