Religious drama meets alien invasion

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2016)

M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most consistently interesting directors working in Hollywood today. He first came to prominence with THE SIXTH SENSE, a top-notch horror flick, and followed it with UNBREAKABLE, a top-notch science fiction flick. Although I haven't seen THE VILLAGE yet, SIGNS makes a slight change of direction for Shyamalan. Although on the face of it, this combines both horror and science fiction elements, the actual alien invasion in the film takes a firm second place to the main thrust of the story, charting Mel Gibson's lack of faith coming from the horrific death of his wife.
This is a human drama through and through, very much focused on the human mind and family relationships, and what makes it so effective is the acting. Gibson is decent, as always, and the kids – especially Rory Culkin – are surprisingly good as well. Best of all, though, is Joaquin Phoenix in support; he's the best here I've ever seen him, delivering a confident, assured, very human portrayal of his character and never stepping into the limelight, instead standing back and letting the focus lie with Gibson. Films focusing on personal religion and the topic of faith tend to be somewhat preachy; they're very difficult to do successfully, but Shyamalan manages it, making this a thought-provoking, sometimes uncomfortable voyage through the human mind. It says something that he cast himself as the driver who killed Gibson's wife; the subject matter is very mature and intelligent, subtle and most definitely not in your face.
Of course, this is supposed to be an alien invasion flick, so what of that? Well, all the trappings are fine (crop circles, blurry UFO footage, weird radio signals) and the script is both witty and pleasingly referential to previous genre fare. The aliens themselves are the classic Greys, popularised in the likes of THE X-FILES, and there's a wonderfully disturbing moment when one is captured on somebody's video camera. Shyamalan hides the aliens, always skirting around them, and as such he keeps the movie realistic and believable. There are some excellent suspense sequences, notably the alien-trapped-in-the-pantry shocker which is great stuff; the great news is that it gets even better for the finale, which is a new spin on the old NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD plot, as our protagonists board themselves up in their home to fend of the aliens. It's so well shot, in fact, that it manages to be scarier and more eerie than Romero's film! Compare the basement scene in this with the equivalent in Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS and you'll see how Spielberg has just lost the plot these days.
However, the final denouement for the alien is very disappointing, very Hollywoodised, and I have a feeling that the climax went against Shyamalan's own personal wishes. The film would have been much better just leaving the aliens unseen and in the dark, but no, we get a cheesy heroic-style action ending, which is completely laughable, with CGI effects that just don't hold up to scrutiny. Ah well, you can't get everything, and this ending is the only thing that mars an otherwise perfectly-made movie.