Science Fiction used to make a statement about Faith

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2015)

I saw this in the Theatre, so my first impressions were from that perspective. I always enjoy movies more when I see them big.
I understand why people react to this film, but it's from misconception. Mainly, that this is a science fiction movie. It is, but it is not. I'll get to that in a bit, why the "Science Fiction" aspects are plausible within that genre. The more I watched it the first time I understood that this was a story about a man, a Priest even, who after a lifetime of being a pillar of Faith for his small town- the one person who everyone depended on to bolster their own Faith, has lost his own Faith.
This is a Man who hates his God, for the loss of his Wife, maybe other things. He has quit his position as Leader of his local Diocese, but even in that resigned position, his 'constituents' still look up to him. This is shown in one scene as he takes his family into town and is approached to give advice. He is still called "Father", they still confess their sins to him.
As a decent man he still gives 'fatherly' advice to whoever asks- It's as if they don't accept that he has quit his church and his God. And his Faith. But old 'habits" die hard, he still will not curse and he still acts as an impromptu confession booth. I must address the misconception that as a Catholic Priest, he "would not be Married". Whoever thinks that, is living in the 1950's, Catholic Priests have been getting Married as far back as the 60's and Rome even made changes in doctrine to allow it. So it was not unbelievable that this man would be a Married Priest with a family- Of course, it is not common, but it is within reality. Actually he could be an Episcopalian Priest, but whether Catholic or Episcopalian, it's believable either way.
As far as the fabric of Alien Invasion which underlies this story about Loss of Faith, Crop Circles and Abductions are referred to. What is given are the basic beliefs by Ufologists about what Crop Circles might be, and the two theories about why an Extra Terrestrial would visit Earth: Observation or Hostility. The first half of this film dissects some of those theories, and even refers to the wearing of "Tin Foil Hats", which I thought was a great jab at conspiracy theorists.
But these Aliens are shown to have a weakness: Water. So, the question rises up as to why Aliens would invade a Water-based planet. Well, the answer is right in the movie; they are not invading but collecting.
As far as the concept that this film is trying to "preach" some kind of specific Christian message, I don't see that. Faith is the same, regardless of religion. I'm not talking about the Christian concept of "Faith vs Works", that's a whole other issue. What is being reflected is basic Faith, all Faith is a working Faith, regardless of what it is applied to, even Science. Basically, you have Faith in a certain thing, and that Faith causes you to follow through in a certain way, because you have expectations based on that Faith.
But what is Christian here, is the concept of "Miracles" in the form of "coincidences". When added up, if they hadn't happened that way, then something worse would have been the result.
This is something I understand, I think many people do. How many times, after a string of unfortunate events, has it turned out that in the long run, they proved beneficial? For instance, you get held up in Traffic or by any other delay, and something bad had occurred at your destination? Had you been on time, it would have happened to you. The film provides its own fictional examples of this phenomenon, but regardless of the fictional aspects, things like that do happen.
I don't think many people initially gleaned this from the film at first viewing, focusing more on this "Water" vulnerability, and of course, if these beings were intent on taking over Earth, it would have been a big mistake for them. But the fact that this is not what they were doing at all only becomes apparent if you watch the whole film through.
And of course, this revelation occurs in the film as one of M Night Shyamalan's famous reversals, one that sets the whole Alien Invasion scenario as the thing of secondary importance, showing that the Reverend Graham Hess's return to Faith as the main point- An issue that had been affecting his family and interpersonal relationships. And in that light, my favorite part was when Hess confronts "Ray Reddy" (played by Night himself) as the man who had accidentally killed his wife, it was one of Night's best Hitchcockian "Cameos".
I just felt that this film had more positive things to say, it did not show mass destruction and vaporization, which are blatant in films like Independence Day or War of the Worlds (Both versions). But the whole "Invasion" aspect was done as something Subtle, which I myself believe is how it would happen.
My review has probably spoiled that for first time viewers, which is why I hope that it is read after viewing. Other than that, this film impacted me because it hits home several key aspects about Faith.
It was as if the film were speaking right to me, not just me, but the people I was with, we all agreed on this. So I think anyone who has difficulty with this film may be having a Faith crisis the way Reverend Hess was at the start of the film- And generally, I've found that when we kick against an issue which is being brought up, we are having trouble with it.