spooky, but less than the previous Shyamalans

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2006)

The Village is the newest creation of M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs). It's about an isolated community, living in a small village, late 19th century, complete with long skirts, Shakespearian language and small ordinary houses and grazing cattle in the surrounding fields.
At first sight a very peaceful town, but a dark secret is hidden behind this misleading surface. The inhabitants constantly live in fear of 'those we don't speak of'. The tiniest tip of the color red, scares the villagers to death. They do not dare to take one step into the woods, and not one of them would, or should take even one step over the well marked borders of The Village.
The new movie of M. Night Shyamalan has all the well known ingredients: surprising turns, an atmosphere that gives you goosebumps and moments where you jump up from your seat. In my opinion, it's a very disturbing story. But there's one thing that I miss: a great climax. This movie never seems to get this highlight. Shyamalan's latest is in the style of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but in these pictures the ending gets you by surprise, they leave you with your eyes and mouth wide open. The story gets to you piece by piece, sometimes surprising, scaring or horrifying. But it doesn't last. The ending of Shyamalan's other movies left you with some of the surprise, horror, or fear. The Village's ending does none of this.
Still, it's a nice movie, as long as it lasts. You're curiosity gets tickled and you only get one piece of the puzzle at a time. If I tell you more, it will ruin the plot of the movie. All I can tell is that it contains a love story, a tale of dubious and clashing moralities. The well known ingredients of Shyamalan's movies I mentioned above, are still an experience. If this is your sort of thing, then this still is a very enjoyable movie.