The Visit

Remember the millenium ? I remember all the chaos that some people were saying, that when the year strikes 2000, this might be the end of the world, and nothing would work at all. I was celebrating on New Years Eve in Gothenburgh, with champagne and a hell of a lot of people. As the clock became midnight, the world did not end. In fact, nothing happened more than usual. There was actuall a film that tried to bring up the subject about the millenium, that you might remember called End Of Days. Schwarzenegger was fighting against Satan, played by Gabriel Byrne, in a fun combination of action and horror film. It failed at the box office, but from my perspective was at least worth watching. Now, let us talk about the year 1999. This year had some really good films coming out, but there was one film that took the world by storm. Am i talking about The Matrix ? I could have done that, but let´s look outside the Matrix world, because we had one film that became a huge box office success. Does anyone remember a horror film called The Sixth Sense ? This film was praised by audiences worldwide, and even from movie critics. Director M. Night Shyamalan became one of the most popular directors at this time, as people were talking about his brand new excellent horror film, that had a unique style, and really good acting. It was a comeback for Bruce Willis, after a couple of less good films, and they actually worked together on M. Night Shyamalan´s next film Unstoppable. It was not as good as The Sixth Sense, but still interesting. As he kept on making more films, staying in the horror genre with Signs and The Village, people were becoming less interested in M. Night Shyamalan´s films, and it became very obvious with his next project Lady In The Water. He kept releasing films, but the audience seemed to be less interested in his new work, especially the film critics also. I personally lost interest after Signs, because i did not really feel very interested in The Village. The concept sounded interesting, but the final results did not match good with my expectations. One film that i hope we can all forget, is the science fiction film called After Earth. I did see the film ( unfortunately ), and wrote a review, but i regret seeing it. I actually lost all hope for M Night Shyamalan, because of this film. I thought that he might never make a good film again. A couple of years later, rumours started speculating that Shyamalan was back to direct a smaller film again. The title turned out to be The Visit, and the premise sounded interesting. When the trailer came out, i was happy to see that this seems to be a smaller film, as if he was trying to go back to his roots. Before i decided to take a look on this film, i was skeptical, because he have released so many awful films in recent years. But i decided to gove The Visit a chance. Is this the best film from M. Night Shyamalan in many years, or is he back on the same terrible level as After Earth ?

Loretta Jamison ( Kathryn Hahn ) have not seen her parents Nana ( Deanna Dunagan ) and Pop Pop ( Peter McRobbie ) for many years. She feels guilty that her parents have never met their grand children Rebecca Jamison ( Olivia DeJonge ) and Tyler Madison ( Ed Oxenbould ). She decides to let her kids go and visit their grandparents, so they can get to know each other. Loretta decides to film everything, making a sort of documentary about their first meeting together, since she want to get to know her grandparents. Everything is going great, and everyone is getting along. One night, Rebecca and Tyler notice their grandmother Nana, doing some strange behavior. Next day they try to act like nothing happened, and everything seems alright. But for each night, more strange things are happening, that either Rebecca or Tyler can explain. What is going on ? Is there something that their grandparents are not telling them ?

I am happy to say that i can feel hope again for M. Night Shyamalan. The Visit is his best film, in almost 13 years. Last time i actually enjoyed a film from him was Signs, and that was in 2002. Now, this is made as an documentary, almost like a found footage horror film. We follow these 2 young children as they try to show us their relationship to their grandparents, that they have never met. It may not sound very interesting, or original, and in some ways it is not different from other horror films, that looks similar. But what makes The Visit interesting, and scary in certain scenes, is the ordinary day feeling. It feels like this could be any grandparents, suddenly going insane, because they might have dementia, or alzheimers. To see how 2 people, who you really don´t know, seem so nice and sweet, suddenly turn into the monsters we fear. Another detail we need to talk about, is how great the young main actors Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould are. When M. Night Shyamalan choosed to cast these 2 very young actors, he must have known that they fit the characters. Their presence feels natural, and they manage to make their characters feel realistic. The grandparents, played by Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, are actually really good in their roles. Especially Deanna Dunagan, when she starts making strange behavior, scratching her nails, and run around, you really feel like you just want to pull out a shotgun and blast her brains out. Since this is made like a documentary, you have to appreciate this type of film to enjoy it. The budget may not be very big, but the message is clear, don´t trust anyone you don´t know very well. M. Night Shyamalan manage to make this simple story, both frightening, and also make interesting characters. Since we want to belive in people, and want to trust our family members, it is hard to belive that there are evil people out there among us. The Visit clearly shows a different view on families, and ask the question, can we really trust our own relatives ? A nice surprise, and i am happy to see Shyamalan back on track after such a long time, with a good film. I know most of my family members very well, but trust me, if i notice that one of them act strange on christmas eve, i am bringing out the chainsaw. You can never be sure, and besides, there will be an extra dinner, with no charge at all.

Rating: DDD