A Harbinger of Bad Films to Come

Rating: 5/10 (7 June 2019)

I hadn't seen this movie in a decade or so, but I had remembered it rather fondly, but I knew it wasn't quite as good as "Signs" or "The Sixth Sense". When I first saw this, I remember thinking that M. Night still had a little creative spark left in him, and that this movie would be one of his more middling entries into his filmography. Going back with a fresh mind, and watching this again, I was given even more hope for a decent film during the opening credits. This film boasts an all-star cast, but it also has Roger Deakins, one of the best cinematographers alive today. And then, as the dialogue began, I realized once more that this was a Shyamalan film, and it would be subject to some terrible dialogue, melodramatic acting, ill-conceived directorial choices, and glaring plot holes that have been thinly and sloppily papered over.