An overwhelmingly atmospheric, painstakingly executed but ultimately, inconsistently entertaining story

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 2004)

Undoubtedly, a highly unusual, weirdly effective film from director M. Night Shyamalan, with a decent twist at the end, but perhaps the film's mid-section is too carefully and painstakingly conceived and executed for its own good.
One of the film's major assets is its atmosphere: substantially eerie, well-sustained and effortlessly conveyed through the starkness of the woods, the autumnal colours and the low, extensive mists. The delineation between the village and the woods is put across in a definitive style.
The script realistically sets out to "wrongfoot" the viewer at key moments in the film; a stance that is not without its merits, but the film is developed too slowly and the film tends to go flat when the dialogues between certain characters becomes too deep and meaningful.
When the film ends, it undoubtedly, provokes much discussion, some of it positive, some of it negative. There are some hard-hitting, visually effective moments, but certainly the film is not as horrific or terrifying as is expected.
The performances are effective enough to carry this film through, but basically, the subtleties of the plot and the desire to create create the aura of "everything is not as it seems", proves to be a task that is too difficult to render a polished film.