M. Night Shyamalan

Devil (2010)

I’ve really got to stop going in to M. Night Shyamalan movies with high hopes. Or high expectations. It just never works out the way I want it to. Which isn’t to say that his movies aren’t decent movies – they’re okay, they’re just a bit formulaic and it’s not a formula I particularly care for.

This is yet another one that fits that mold. On the plus side, I was happy not to see one of those revelation sequences where all the clues leading up to the reveal are flashed on screen. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else special about this movie.

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

I read the book this movie is based on, The Cabin at the End of the World, several years back, and really liked it. I’ve liked most of Paul Tremblay’s work, though surprisingly more of the longer works than his short stories.

Anyway, I was excited last year when I heard this was being made into a movie, so I reread the book in anticipation before it was release.

Old (2021)

(Apologies, probably lots of spoilers for this one) It’s hard to really talk about this one without spoiling it, but I want to talk about it, so I guess I’m going to spoil it?

The Happening (2008)

This is a bad movie. Just…epically bad. Well, not epically bad (I did give it two stars, after all), more like run-of-the-mill bad, but bad nonetheless. It might be my least favorite M. Night Shyamalan film?

The Sixth Sense (1999)

This might be another nostalgia-driven rating. I think it’s also a “replay rating” of sorts…it’s really hard to put yourself into the same frame of mind as when you’re seeing something for the first time.

The Village (2004)

I thought this movie was nominally thematically appropriate following the last two movies. And at least it’s better than The Happening?

The Visit (2015)

I (like many folks I know) have a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan. I loved Unbreakable and thought The Sixth Sense was pretty okay, and I hated The Happening (despite Zooey Deschanel – but that’s a review for another day) and was pretty bored by Lady in the Water. So I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Visit.

Then I watched the trailer for it, and realized it was basically an M. Night Shyamalan found footage film, and was even less sure what to expect from it. About where I landed…I’m on the fence about it, much like my overall sentiment towards the director.