A lot of people not likely to get it.

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2004)

I saw the movie opening night, and again the next day. Along with a lot of negative reviews I've heard, I also at the theater heard teenagers in particular saying they didn't like the movie. Right off the bat, I expect very few teenagers to like this movie. I also expect those adults with, shall we say, a lack of depth of experience, to not get this movie either. Just as "Signs" was not an alien invasion movie but rather a movie about faith wrapped in the summer crowd-pleasing guise of an alien-invasion movie, "The Village" is about so much more than what it appears--even more so than was "Signs". "The Village" is neither a psychological thriller as was "The Sixth Sense", nor does it have the aliens angle of "Signs", so it isn't going to appeal to people from either of those crowds. I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten it as a teenager, and I likely wouldn't have appreciated it much without children. Let's face it: it's a movie for adults, and I mean adults with real concerns about living in the world that exists today. Anyone with an extraordinary concern for their children will get it. Unfortunately for the box office, that segment might not be as large as M. Night Shyamalan would like. But for my money, I agree with Shyamalan in feeling that this is his best work yet. It's without a doubt one of the best movies I've ever seen.