A most complex and troublesome film

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2004)

"The Village," M. Night Shyamalan's latest twisting thriller, is full of ideas and creepy moments, but is hurt by much subtle complexity and very troubling storytelling. Since he hit it big in 1999 with "The Sixth Sense," he has become one of Hollywood's last truly innovative filmmakers, and therein lies the problem (I think).
We've come to expect so much from him lately, that we may flock to his latest flick and then comes a big letdown after a most wonderful buildup. But that doesn't automatically make "The Village" any less thoughtful; at least he tries. Most other directors wouldn't have lasted past the first hour.
Shyamalan has been on a wild streak since "The Sixth Sense," and most people would agree (though I don't) that "Unbreakable" was a letdown and the masses are pretty much divided on "Signs." Die-hards will unanimously agree that "The Village" is a monumental letdown and should never have seen the light of day.
Superstition is the latest topic up for discussion with "The Village." Shyamalan seems to have an interest in exploiting certain aspects of our culture and using them to full effect. In "The Sixth Sense," it was childhood fears and ghost stories. In "Unbreakable," we learned about superheroes and that they may be ordinary people like you or me. In "Signs," we got a lesson about faith and an alien invasion.
"The Village" plays with the popular superstitions of a Puritan-like community and uses those to set up a story about deadly creatures that live in the woods outside the town. And one of its citizens is questioning those beliefs and is eager to see what truly lies outside the town's borders. Shyamalan plays with these beliefs, getting us to accept them like the people of this community and terrorize us at the same time.
He has a way with endings and "The Village" is no different from any of his previous three blockbusters. To me, it did come as a big shock and was totally un-hinted on earlier in the film. In "The Village" however and unlike the previous three, Shyamalan has created an atmosphere that is deliberately misleading and that is something I didn't find in "The Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable," or "Signs."
All in all, "The Village" is still a valiant, if somewhat lacking effort from one of our last and most innovative directors.