A generous-for-Sunday-afternoon turnout has paid its dues at
the local multiplex. The theater’s obnoxious animated self-promotions have
ceased. The trailers, uncut to a taxing length, have finally come to an end,
and the feature presentation, welcomed by the fanfare of twitchy, whispering
teens, has begun. I hadn’t the occasion to see a horror film with its target
demographic in some time, and their nervous unrest reminds me of the small joy
the experience can offer. The words, “A film by M. Night Shayamalan” fade in,
white on black.
A handful of my fellow theater patrons laughs.
Just in case I had forgotten the disgraced auteur’s name has
become a punch line, some strangers in the dark refresh my memory, carrying-on as though
they didn’t realize whose movie they had come to see. They, and the rest of the
audience would laugh several more times at what appeared on the screen
throughout the film, but they would also scream, gleefully, like the ecstatic patrons
of a well-orchestrated haunted attraction.
Paula Jamison (Kathryn Hahn) has not been in touch with her
parents for fifteen years, since eloping with her high school teacher. Her
children, Rebecca, a bright fifteen-year-old documentarian (Olivia DeJonge),
and Tyler, a rapping, girl-crazy germaphobe (Ed Oxenbould) have decided they
want to meet their estranged grandparents, potentially for the sake of
reuniting them with their mother. So, with Paula on a weeklong cruise with her
new boyfriend, the siblings take a lengthy train ride to the old family farm,
and their elderly relatives (played perfectly by Peter McRobbie and Deanna
Dunagen) greet them with warmth and open arms. The arms stay open, but the
warmth wanes as the geriatric Doris and John begin exhibiting disturbing
behavior. Before long, it becomes impossible for the children to abide by the
one household rule: Don’t leave your room after 9:30 PM.
I’d love to tell you more. I’ve been seeing a lot of
thrillers lately which require the revealing of too many details for proper
analysis, and this is certainly one of them. You’ve been hearing Shayamalan is
back on his game, and although The Visit is no masterwork, it does manage to
breath new life into the found-footage format, and the filmmaker’s favorite
forms of storytelling are as sturdy here as ever, if not flawlessly constructed.
The young characters have fears to overcome, and the action toward the climax
becomes meaningful, and then there is that other common Shayamalan trait… which
I would rather not discuss here.
What is absent from this new film, unlike excellent
performances (especially from the young stars), is the director’s need to tie
the events together with some fictional spiritual order. Higher powers, in
fact, don’t seem to play a role here at all, and that is a welcomed change
after the goofy Christian sophism ending films like Signs. The Visit is allowed
to descend into bleak chaos, and if it weren’t for a few specific character
growths in the finale, one might be of the impression this was a brand new
filmmaker.
It’s too bad he isn’t brand new. If it weren’t for M.
Night’s abysmal recent outings, I believe most critics would be hailing him as
a promising young talent after seeing this small film. Honestly, it’s the most
enjoyable and logical found-footage movie I can think of, and it’s perfectly
unnerving at nearly every turn. It’s so creepy, in fact, that it’s a wonder how
effortlessly the abundant comedic moments cut through the darkness.
DeJonge and Oxenbould are more than comfortable with their
characters, and that is mostly thanks to the dialogue written by Shayamalan.
You know who these kids are the minute they open their mouths, and they are so
authentically teenaged, that for the first several minutes, I was almost too
irritated by them to care. Magically, as cinema would have it, they worked
their way under my skin, as they slowly revealed the complex and endearing
creatures they truly are behind the façade. They are sad, in danger, and a
little lost, but most importantly, they are both hilarious. Neither one even
slightly cool, their attempts to deal with the events of their bizarre stay
make this one of the funniest movies I’ve seen all summer.
Shayamalan may not be back, but he is on his way, and I don’t
see anyone laughing at HIM for this horror/comedy.
