The genre's of Family Drama and Suspenseful Thriller.they don't really fit together. or do they?

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2002)

"Signs", the newest from director M. Night Shyamalan, has revived a nearly extinct art form-- True Suspense. This absolute skill requires four basic but necessary components: complex characters, at least two story lines of different genre, a filmmaker that thinks past the commercial success and looks through to the genuine idea of the movie, and a soundtrack that is more chilling than the show could ever wish. "Signs" reaches all of these goals and exceeds them with a tremendous amount of heart and terror (unfortunately, I have limited space to write so I am going to focus on the first two rules predominately).
As per all of Shyamalan's movies, the characters are the most intriguing puzzle piece of the movie. Mel Gibson portrays Graham Hess, an Episcopalian minister that converts to atheism after the heartbreaking death of his wife. His two young children (Rory Culkin and Abby Breslin, both are extraordinary child actors whom I am excited to see more from) are trying to cope with the loss of their mother and adjust to the complete transformation of their father. Joaquin Phoenix plays Merrill Hess, an uncle and brother that acts as the `fill-in father' while Graham is mourning over his wife. The idea of a newly single parent isn't new to Shyamalan's films though, in `The Sixth Sense' the mother of Haley Joel Osment is a single parent and in `Unbreakable' Bruce Willis is ready to divorce his wife and leave his child for a career in New York.
Going into the movie, I expected a mind-blowing thriller about aliens attacking the planet while a farming family defends their home-and that I did receive. What I didn't expect was the profound force of the metaphysical and heartbreak surrounding all of the characters. While most will argue this is a film about aliens, I will contradict and say this is a film of survival. Images of aliens terrorizing children and the unmistakable sounds of an alien in a cornfield will stick with you as you drive home, but so will the touching speeches given by Mel Gibson and the fact that fate and faith guides us and the message that whatever happens has happened for a reason. That my friends, is the moral of this story, unlike some alien movies that teach us big guns and a lot of ammo will resolve anything.

Though `Sixth Sense' brought Night into day, `Signs' will allow him the opportunity to be a legend in filmmaking. Some compare Night to Hitchcock and Spielberg, but Night has formed his own niche in the motion picture industry, now, others will be compared to him. The true test of a movie is whether or not you can describe the emotion and significance in a single sentence, if you can, then you have just wasted your time on a movie. The nearest thing to a single sentence summary for `Signs' is. A reverend turned atheist must protect his family and reconsider his beliefs when a worldwide phenomena touches his home.