Signs is a film to be cherished!

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2020)

A profound and incredible masterpiece and Shyamalan's best to date in my opinion! Specifically following the Hess family (Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) during the build up and event of an alien invasion, it's a very intimate, emotional and scary portrayal of a whole families belief during dark times (drawing slightly on themes of Night's previous film Wide Awake). The theme of faith is perfectly explored here; Graham's internal struggle with accepting past tragedy and previous beliefs being in serious jeopardy are wonderfully realised by Gibson's majestic performance; definately a career best and one of the most moving I've ever seen. I also think it features Phoenix's most underrated performance; he is superb as Merrill! The children are perfectly cast also with a pre-Little Miss Sunshine Breslin and Culkin both being absolutely brilliant. Supporting roles from Cherry Jones and M. Night himself are also beautifully played and add so much to the already full rounded and deeply rich storyline and character development. Words cannot describe my love for this film which is mainly due to it having a massive impact on me as a child; one of the most thrilling and definately the most suspenseful film watching experience I've had! The first time watching is quite unlike anything I've ever seen; the tension building is incredible and the sad or bittersweet scenes are heart wrenching. Beautifully edited by Barbara Tulliver, some of the most effective scares I've seen on screen are captured here from the monster outside Bo's window to the chilling home video broadcast on the news. The cinematography by Tak Fujimoto is gorgeous and the soundtrack by James Newton Howard is his absolute best work; a theme that has stayed with me ever since first hearing it. A work of genius and I don't say that lightly