Signs, a realistic science fiction thriller

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2002)

Signs comes as a refreshing break from the majority of recent science fiction thrillers that are too heavy on action sequences and CGI and too light on substance. M. Night Shyamalan masterfully tells the story of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a reverand who has abandoned his faith after the sudden death of his wife, set against the backdrop of an alien invasion of earth. The brilliance of this movie is Shyamalan's ability to keep the movie grounded within the moviegoer's reality, not the cinematic "reality" that we've come to expect from movies such as Independence Day. If an alien invasion were to happen, this is more than likely what it would look like. It is this reality that helps the film achieve the level of psychological spookiness that it does. Not since The Exorcist has a movie gotten into my head the way Signs did. That being said, those who come to the film expecting to see another Independence Day will likely be disappointed. This is not a story of an alien invasion so much as it is the story of Graham searching for his faith. Without divulging too much information about the ending, Signs climaxes in true Shyamalan style, a curveball revelation concerning an aspect of the main character (see The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable for reference). This film left me wholely satisfied and eagerly anticipation the next film from Shyamalan.