Attempt at Hitchcockian suspense

Rating: 6/10 (18 March 2015)

Decent acting from the child actors, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. M. Night Shyamalan played a small part himself, and did well. I can see why this film interested Mel Gibson, with the aspects of his character's faith journey. River Phoenix and the minor cast were all adequate. Despite plot holes, which most science-fiction films have, this film is largely Hitchcockian. Rather than concerning itself with explicit exposition, the main point, aside from the faith journey mentioned earlier, was the building of suspense, which requires things to be imagined, rather than shown. Some of this build-up was truly creepy. Overall it was okay.