Captivating

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2006)

Despite what the marketing men might have you believe, this is NOT a horror film. Like Shyamalan's other movies 'Unbreakable' and 'Sixth Sense', this is a story with a deep vein of melancholy. Some scenes are done with very little (if any) dialogue and just a couple of actors speaking whole stories with nothing but looks and tiny gestures, and the effect (as in the breakfast scene in Unbreakable) can be shattering. Reviewers here who have said things like "this story of a village being scared of monsters outside is so childish/crude/predictable...' must have stopped watching after the first half hour or have no idea of subtlety. The story itself cleverly moves from a fairly standard scary tale to an unsettling story of despair and hope, and the uplifting ending is enough to put a further twist on our already stretched emotions. Shyamalan is very adept at getting small but extremely moving performances out of his actors, and once again it is this subtlety that (for me) is so effective.SPOILER FOLLOWS: A beautiful film - even the 'monsters' (which of course turn out to be anything but...) have a beauty about them, with their bright red cloaks and the spines. It's a love story, not a horror film.