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?

But it’s not great. The acting and dialogue feel contrived and stilted. The “twist” is executed poorly and rushed in pacing.

And this honestly feels like M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t trust his audience at ALL to understand what’s going on.

But it’s sufficiently creepy at the start. Bryce Dallas Howard is really great. And there are a LOT of familiar faces in this movie.

It’s slower and longer than it needs to be, and definitely loses most of what little charm it had at all once you’ve already seen the movie (or once you already know what’s coming).

I don’t know if I’d recommend this to anyone who hasn’t already seen it, unless you’re somehow a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan who missed some of the early 2000’s films?