M. Night Shyamalan: Day 5

There’s no doubt that our boy M. Night Shyamalan has a mixed bag of films.

When he sets out to make a film, one of two things happens:

He hits

or

strikes out at the plate.

But when he hits it’s not just an RBI. It's an absolute dinger outside-the-park home run that your grandpa talks about for 50 years.

And with the release of Knock at the Cabin Door it gives us the perfect opportunity to discuss the king of the twist.

For our last clip, we want to show you everything that makes M. Night, M. Night.

This film is a real make-or-break moment for consumers of Shyamalan’s films.

Remember at the beginning of the week when we said “You can love him, hate him, hate that you love him, or love to hate him”? Well, this is the film that really puts that to the test.

The man has a style, and as he’s grown and evolved as a filmmaker that style has too.

He has let go of the expectations that were put on him as a younger man and now seems happier and more invested in these strange genre experiments that he keeps rolling out.

He’s no longer trying to be Steven Spielberg; he’s Rod Serling and that’s awesome!

This is a film that relishes in its odd style, a film that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t go outside of its self-regulated boundaries. It’s campy and awkwardly written and performed, all while being sharply directed.

At some point, it all becomes so outrageous one has to ask: “Is this intentional?”

We at Please Consume think it is.

Maybe he sees us all as stilted and lifeless and is intentionally trying to give these movies an off-kilter feeling. What if this is how Shyamalan actually sees the world?

There’s an excellent quote from writer/director J.D. Amato when asked about his thoughts on the Wachowski’s 2008 masterpiece, “Speed Racer”. He says: “Here’s the thing about filmmakers, artists that you like.

They don’t change, they don’t get worse, they just get weirder opportunities [...]. They’re brains are still the same brains that were there from the beginning.”

This is a scene that features M. Night at the top of HIS GAME.

It features over-the-top performances perfectly calibrated to the movie, deeply upsetting subject matter and visuals that are somehow considered PG-13, and both surrealist dialogue and cinematography to make you feel even more uncomfortable, confused, and, yes, more amused than you already were.

We love you M. Night. Never change.