[7.6/10] One of the best tacks a horror film can take is rooting its supernatural or outsized sense of terror in something real. That grain of truth at the core of a movie’s scares makes them more vivid and gripping than bare, spooky scenes or the usual collection of ghoulies.

It certainly works to the benefit of *The Visit*. The film tells the story of two young children, Becca and Tyler, visiting their estranged grandparents for the first time. “Pop Pop” and “Nana” behave strangely, rumbling and being ill in the middle of the night or sneaking out to a mysterious shed, in a way that unnerves their grandchildren.

The smartest choice the film makes is to walk the line between whether this is the sign of something sinister or wrong, or whether it’s simply a combination of dementia and unfamiliarity that’s disturbing the kids. It’s a horror movie, so it’s not hard to guess how things play out, but the film gains strength by playing with that ambiguity. Outside the confines of a Hollywood picture, kids can have trouble relating to their grandparents, understanding the physical and mental challenges their elders are going through. Using that natural anxiety, that natural misunderstanding, both serves as a means to muddy the waters of What’s Really Going On, and to elevate the frightening qualities of when Nana and Pop Pop are acting out.

If there’s a smarter choice, however, it’s in the casting of the two young leads who carry the film. Olivia DeJonge plays Becca, the older sibling who is a budding director, out to document this momentous and fraught family occasion, with a combination of precociousness and vulnerability. Ed Oxenbould plays Tyler, Becca’s colorful, freestyle-rapping little brother, who makes for an amusingly free-wheeling yin to Becca’s very deliberate yang.

Centering a movie around kids is hard, as the challenges of finding the core of a character and maintaining it from beginning to end can be difficult for young actors. But DeJonge and Oxenbould both give their characters a sense of realness in their childlike reactions to the world around them, but also deliver the emotional layers to that experience to make them compelling figures and not just props in this drama.

Much of that comes from the script penned by the famed/notorious M. Night Shyamalan, who also directs the film. He too captures the inquisitive, precious spirit of childhood, while making Becca and Tyler easy characters to become endeared to and fear for. The film also features one of Shyamalan’s tightest scripts. As much as Shyamalan takes time out to be a little loose and show the kids being kids, helping to establish character and tone, he also dots every “i” and crosses every “t” in terms of setting up the mystery and providing plausible hints, convincing red herrings, and a solid build to the truth about what’s happening with their grandparents.

If anything, the film’s narrative is a little too neat. Emotional beats or noted characteristics come back into play at just the right moment, to the point that the viewer can see the strings of why some detail or story was told in the prelude. The plot never feels too convenient, but at times it moves like it’s on rails.

The same cannot be said, however, for the cinematography. Shyamalan employs the “found footage” conceit here, and it gives him a chance to use perspective and the verisimilitude of that choice to accentuate his scares. More than anything, it allows us to better know Becca and Tyler. If we’re not literally seeing their perspective, hearing their voice and seeing their point-of-view from behind the camera, then we see them in confessionals, opening up in the piercing way only a camera lens can admit.

Shyamalan uses that choice -- having the kids “filming” almost all of the movie, for both terror and fun. The hand-held conceit turns a simple game of hide and seek, or a chance encounter with a bystander on a visit to an old high school, into terrifying episodes, filled with crawling figures or troubling confrontations. But it also gives Tyler the chance to goof off in front of the camera in the way a ten year old would, or for Becca to amusingly wax rhapsodic over not wanting to be too intentional in her zooms and cuts, with Shyamalan clearly having a good time poking fun at his profession through the eyes of the child.

The only problem, then, is that once Shyamalan has laid down that initial layer of humor and creepiness, the inevitable reveal leads to a bit of the air coming out of the picture rather than the terror being heightened. Once the scales fall and the ambiguity is no longer there to goose the scares, the film becomes more stock in its horror, and the emotional climaxes coincide with the horror climaxes a little too easily.

Still, *The Visit* isn’t content to merely offer a snootful of well-crafted horror and an endearing, if frightening kid adventure. There’s a heavily-underlined but potent theme about acceptance and processing anger for those who’ve hurt us, particularly family members. The film isn’t shy in the way it connects the feelings of Becca and Tyler’s mom (Kathryn Hahn, who makes a strong impression in just a little bit of screentime) toward the parents she hasn’t spoken to in a decade and a half, with Becca and Tyler’s own feelings about their absentee dad. As with the scary side of the movie, *The Visit* pays both of these internal challenges a little too easily, but still convincingly.

It’s hard not to draw comparisons with Shyamalan’s breakthrough film, *The Sixth Sense*, give both movies’ use of talented child actors and themes of making peace with difficult parts of our lives, but *The Visit* stands on its own. It’s a tidier film, more self-contained, more human and unvarnished, with its single-location focus and more conventional scares. And it finds the sweet spot between the real things that unnerve us, and the grander horrors of the screen, to make an effective vignette about two kids finding their way through one uncertain situation and resolving another.

Now that "The Visit" seems to be considered a respectable return to form for M. Night Shyamalan, it doesn't take a lot of guts to say that I really think he's a great director. "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" are absolutely great movies and "Signs" is one of my all-time favorites. It's a film that scores a rare perfect 10 to me. I even like "The Village" quite a lot.

And another thing...I love the art of the "twist". Watching a movie or TV show and having the rug pulled out from under me is one of my favorite treats. I love the "Twilight Zone", Alfred Hitchcock and any other writer or director that can flip a story on its ear. Here's the kicker with enjoying the art of the twist...you don't spend time trying to figure it out before it happens. Let it come to you. Don't waste your time trying to be smarter than the storyteller. Just let it happen.

Now, Shyamalan is known mostly for these twists in his films. It dominates the fact that his work looks stunning and overshadows the gift he has in bringing out great performances, at least in his early films. I've never seen "After Earth" or "The Last Airbender", but I don't consider him being anything other than Director-for-Hire regarding these two movies.

I knew absolutely nothing about "The Visit" going in. In fact, I didn't even know that Shyamalan was releasing a film of his own until about two weeks before it hit the theaters. Once I found out, I purposely avoided all trailers, advertising, everything. This was my hope...that "The Visit" be another great Horror/Thriller movie that I know he can make. Yeah, yeah. I know "The Happening" was his Horror effort and I think it could have been much better if Wahlberg and Deschanel hadn't been cast. What a weird vibe that movie had.

Sadly, I don't consider "The Visit" to be a return to the genre. "The Visit" is a dark comedy. It's got a few jump scares and provides opportunities for some nervous laughter. It also has a great twist, which was the most enjoyable part of the movie for me. All things considered though, this is not ever going to be something I will add to my list of Shyamalan favorites. It's just trying too hard to be clever. The found footage style, the kid that raps...it all just seems to cater to people that he's trying to impress. I don't get the feeling that he made a film aimed at his core audience. The audience that knows what a great filmmaker he can be. And that is very disappointing to me.

Ultimately, I liked "The Visit" and was encouraged to hear theater goers talk of how much they enjoyed it as they left their seats. If the regular movie watching public likes it enough to keep Shyamalan working, I might get a great Horror or Thriller film out of him again.

> You a film prodigy? You know, I used to be a pretty good actor.

You can see here the desperate Shyamalan Attempt to get back to his old glory days. But in the last ten years he's not able to reach a decent success. Losing truth with big league actors and production house, so ended up doing movies with teens in his previous 3. So this one as well about two young siblings who goes to meet their grandparents from the rural. After the smooth first day the grandparents' unusual behaviour begin to scare the kids. In an attempt to find the truth, what follows is a twist in the tale.

PG13 rated 'found footage' horror-thriller. But the story might be either real or fiction that never explains, because the boy in the movie wanted to do a project. Not that scary except in a couple of scenes. A better story, but the movie was okay type. The entire film revolves around four characters, but the two kids led from the front with their excellent act. It faired well at the box office, but honestly, I was slightly disappointed with everything from it.

Shyamalan is better than this, but he had a few chances to prove it that did not work out well as everyone expected. It's only a matter of time to give an unexpected hit and turnover in his career, that's what I'm looking for, but looks like not any time soon. I think this film was better than his recent ones that delivers within its limit, so I consider it is a one time watch film and nothing else.

6/10

A grand time of things at the grandparents place?

The Visit is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn.

Becca and Tyler have never met their grandparents, their mother left that family home in acrimonious circumstances. Now the kids are off to spend a few days with them - and get far more than they bargained for.

If you ask some people then they will say that Shyamalan never had form to begin with, so to them this doesn't warrant being called some sort of return to form, what it does do is find him on sound footings. Veering away from big budgets and adopting a low-fi approach, this very much has him back in the spooky zone.

It's all very nutty of course, the premise and the (very good) reveal are hardly genre defining, but the unease is palpable, the mystery element strong and there's a bunch of genuinely freaky scenes. The last third is almost delirious as the story goes through its bad dream fairy tale throes, and the small cast are excellent, with Syamalan once again showing how good he works with young actors.

A good honest chiller that isn't purporting to be anything other than that. 7/10

The Visit had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it falls flat due to the many drawbacks that are constantly present in M. Night Shyamalan's films. However, where this movie excels is with the fantastically paced tension. Shyamalan incorporates a mix of found footage elements with a bit of Paranormal Activity, creating something that is pretty unique and sinister. This film was one of the more terrifying experiences I have had in quite some time, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat, especially in the night segments. I am sure it helped that I was watching this on a laptop, at night, with headphones on.

The story itself is actually pretty unique. The creepy nature of the grandparents is unsettling but also incredibly grounded. They seem almost possessed at times, and the reveal at the end just makes the entire movie all the more frightening. Shyamalan does a decent job with the found footage elements, although it is nothing groundbreaking.

However, where this movie really begins to falter is with the screenplay and acting. Now, I do not put as much blame on the actors due to the horrendous dialogue that was written for them. This dialogue is so rigid and inorganic, making every interaction feel as though it was written by an alien trying to mask as a human being. This really messed with the pacing of the film and made certain parts of it very difficult to watch.

Overall, I give a lot of props for the creativity and the unsettling feeling it created in me, but Shyamalan definitely missed an opportunity to create a very special film. With a more polished screenplay and better acting, this movie could have been truly exceptional. Nonetheless, it is still worth watching for the unique and scary story that it tells.

Score: 65% 👍
Verdict: Decent