excellent

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2004)

Shyamalan weaves his cinematic magic once again in this beautifully-filmed movie about a 19th-century community with a terrible burden to bear. The villagers are terrified of the creatures in the woods...and with good reason. They have showed up recently...leaving mutilated animal corpses in their path; marking the doors of the village with blood; terrorising the villagers due to the periodic visiting of the forbidden forest.
The village must be self-sufficient enough to sustain itself, for no one is allowed to leave it or enter it. What are the creatures? Why are they so angered by the villagers' trespassing?
These are the basis for Shymalan's beautiful and terrifying tale. This film, however, is not a horror movie. It is a very interesting psychological journey into human nature; rather like "Lord of the Flies," in fact. No matter how innocent we seem to be, we can never escape the Deadly Sins: tragedy must fall upon us at some point. It makes us more well-rounded and three-dimensional. It has elements of everything from Wuthering Heights to Greek tragedies to Hitchcock, and, aside from the abrupt denouement, is nearly perfect in its storytelling.
Bryce Dallas Howard is stunning as Ivy and has made an incredible acting debut in "The Village." Adrien Brody, as the village idiot, is flawlessly brilliant. Joaquin Phoenix is marvellous and heartbreaking. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking...and frightening.

Shymalan's inevitable cameo is also quite clever.
I thoroughly enjoyed this little movie. Do not go in there expecting to be thrilled...expect to gain insight into human nature and war. It might be lost on too many people, sadly...