Almost everyone missed the true meaning of this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2004)

My girlfriend and I walked out of this movie wondering about a lot of things. Sure, it was a decently done movie, with an interesting (if somewhat predictable) twist at the end...but I felt like I was missing something. It was good, but not M Night good. M Night's movies are very purposefully written and directed, so much so that there just had to be something else to it. After discussing it for a while, my girlfriend and I came to the realization that this film is a social commentary about the current state of American...hidden inside a horror movie. We felt the real genius of the film was that M Night created a commentary more biting than Fahrenheit 9/11, but so disguised that most people didn't even realize it was a commentary.
We found it hard to believe that there would be so many parallels to the society in this film to our own post 9/11 world simply by accident. M Night is far too thorough a writer and director to let that happen. Surely it was by design. Think of this movie in the context of current events, and excuse that I saw it opening weekend and wasn't really looking for social parallels:
We live in a world created by events of terror. This world was created by, and is shaped by, a small group who use fear to control the masses for what they see as the greater good. The monsters we are afraid of were created by the very leaders who use the fear of them to maintain power and shape our society. The monsters our leaders created have in turn led to others becoming monsters themselves. Our leaders send out troops, blind to the whole truth, to protect and save those who have been harmed by the monsters created by their lies. When the troops return they are changed and unsure what to believe, but still have faith in the society, if not the leaders, and are comforted in their mission to save those they love.
Again, this is a broad overview from what I remember. I really want to see the film again paying close attention to hidden social parallels between this isolated society and our own current state of affairs.