Quite effective, but flawed.

Rating: 6/10 (8 February 2019)

The Village is a drama masquerading as a horror/suspense movie. The premise is simple: A village in mid XVIII century is being terrorized by supernatural agents that surround the village...
(spoilers)
... except that, of course not. At this time, we all know the drill. The whole thing really is set in modern times, when a group of people used some incredible contrived means to isolate themselves completely from the outside world. Indeed, it sound really forced, and somewhat ridiculous.
But, I think reducing the whole thing at a bad twist is making a disservice to the movie. When I watched The Village, the movie felt less like a horror movie, and more like a love and human drama. The relationship between Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix is really well crafted in the movie, and it feels real, and even beautiful. When tragedy struck in the middle of the movie, I was worried less about the whole monster schtick, and more about the plight of the characters. Those were the moments that really carried the movie.
But alas, here comes the flaw of the movie. Being this an M. Night Shyamalan movie in midst 2000s, the movie couldn't just be a drama: it needed a "suspense" and "horror" theme, which is the weakest angle of the movie, and completely ruined by the "reveal" I mentioned, which makes everything regarding that angle, completely pointless. It's the same flaw that "Signs" has: a contrived and unbelievable plot device that belittles and ruins all the suspense.
But, I think this movie is superior to Signs, because although The Village plays with the suspense angle, it's far less accentuated than in Signs. I think the same resolution could have been kept, but making the movie less about the "mystery of the monsters" and more about the personal drama. I think the movie works in the end, but this flaw severly damages it.
6/10