The Visit (Film Review)

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.

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.