New American Master of Suspense

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2004)

I now officially love M. Night Shyamalan ... or at least I love his films. In these days of cat scares, cliche gore, action thrillers, and hyper-ironic post-modern fear factors, it seems that Shyamalan is one of the few people who is experimenting with Suspense and Suspense as vehicle to tell interesting stories.
If you liked _The Sixth Sense_ and _Unbreakable_, know that this is a different kind of movie. There is no "big twist" at the end. This isn't a film where you won't be able to at least have a guess at what's going on. That's not it's point. The joy in this film is in watching how events unfold and how these characters act and interact. Their primal struggle is internal, conveniently externalized for us by the mysterious threat that forces them to fight their more personal demons.
This is a film about our loved ones, what we do when we develop them, what we do to protect them, and what we do when we lose them. (Listen for Hurt's line about love that ends a scene you've been building up to for awhile.)
It's beautifully shot. It's well-crafted. It has several exciting performances played with great honesty in a "close to the chest" intensity that captures a reserved people placed under pressure. That's a style that Shyamalan likes for his films, and here I find it succeeding the most so far.
It's too early yet to start talking about him as the modern day Hitchcock, but I sure can't wait for this filmmaker's next film.