How does he do it?

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2005)

This is a movie, like Shyamalan's previous ones, which requires multiple viewings to see all that the author/director has built into it. The second time through, and the third and the fourth, etc., you see the clues and details that you didn't or couldn't notice the first time. Each of his films is like a puzzle that seems simple once someone shows you the secret. That's why the craftsmanship is so impressive. They all contain lessons about life, as well, especially about the fears we all harbor, and the ways we have been given to confront them.
This film makes Bryce Dallas Walker a star. She shines bright as a heroine few will ever forget. Joaquin Phoenix, who played Merrill in "Signs," is at his brooding and enigmatic best. And Adrien Brody gives his character, who serves as a counterpoint to the others, a bemusing innocence mixed with the wildness and irrationality of a force of nature.
The film has the feel of a parable or allegory throughout, and a Gothic quality that adds to the power of the denouement. I thought frequently of Hawthorne's novels as I watched.