10th Anniversary TLDR: The Visit (2015)
Holy Mother of Sarah McLachlan!
Plot: A brother and sister are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a week, where they discover that the elderly couple is involved in something deeply disturbing.
Direction & Screenplay: This one just missed the cut in our Summer of Shyamalan series from last year, so it's been on my mind ever since we tackled that project. In my memory, it was the movie that lifted M. Night back from the dead, a classic twist-filled sleeper that revived his career post-failed tentpole projects like After Earth and The Last Airbender. That is true, I suppose, that his filmography was reaching life-support territory and that his career was rejuvenated by this box-office winner (on a budget of $5 million, The Visit grossed almost $100 million.) My memory failed me, however, in thinking that this was a spook-filled thriller intent on delivering the goods that M. Night became famous for delivering. Nope, it's hokey, sorta-ridiculous schlock, not a throwback to thrillers past (The Sixth Sense, Signs), but a harbinger of his silly black comedies to come (Old, Trap). I feel bad for being mean to Knock at the Cabin. Or maybe I don't...
Performances: Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould (good grief, that kid was everywhere for like two years) are fine as the grandkids, but this is The Deanna Dunagan Show as far as I'm concerned. She will do anything, it totally checks out that she was the original Violet in August: Osage County. Also, surprise Celia Keenan-Bolger!
Cinematography: Maryse Alberti has shot real movies like Creed and The Wrestler, as well as fake movies like The Burial and Hillbilly Elegy. How do you shoot found footage? No, that's a real question, how do you do that?
Best Line: "You’re not a Yahtzee master. That takes ten years."
Fun Fact: M. Night almost directed the Life of Pi movie. I would've liked to have seen that...
Imaginary Accolade: Poopiest Cinematic Diaper of 2015 (Take that as you will.)
Everything is too long! Is it too long? Can you say that 94 minutes is too long?
Rating: Sandwiched between The Happening and Lady in the Water in my M. Night rankings.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.