M. Night Shyamalan Week: Day 3

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.

We here at Please Consume wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t at least mention the um… well… let’s just call them M. Night’s less-than-stellar years.

Between “Lady in the Water”, “The Happening”, “After Earth”, and yes, “The Last Airbender”, Shyamalan needed a win.

Over the years, he’s shared how during those movies he lost the thing that most motivated him as a filmmaker… Fear!

He needed a challenge.

He needed stakes.

So he put up $5 million of his own money to produce today’s film and boy did it pay off! Not only did it reinvigorate interest in the Shyamalan name, it reignited Shyamalan himself.

When you watch The Visit, you feel as if it’s been made by someone who is thoughtful, someone who is excited, and someone who is eager to make something personal and intimate.

While we’re a little dubious of the ethics of preying on people's fear of the elderly, and we too are sick of found footage films, M. Night just knows how to do it right.

In this scene, watch how he uses found footage, mixed with Peter McRobbie’s unassuming nature as PopPop, to lull you into a comfortable state of the mundane before shit inevitably pops off.