Not bad.

Rating: Null/10 (3 August 2004)

I smartly avoided all but the original creepy trailers for M. Night's new flick, and thus I avoided all hints of the twists and even the basic premise of the film. I went in blind much like the main character, and like Ivy I could see the colors of this film, that most of you (including Roger Ebert) have missed. The Village is a movie with several layers that get peeled back as the story reaches its climax. First and foremost I would say it is a period romance. Innocent and charming. The success of the film is that it peels away a layer and makes you question that innocence. There is an almost Puritan sense that what is pleasurable is sinful, and the use of vague words like "the bad color" and "those we do not speak of" is more about the parts of their own humanity the "Villagers" have supressed than it is about ghouls and monsters. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone reading this so it will be difficult to discuss any further, but suffice to say "The Village" is not about what lurks in the forest. It's about what lurks in the heart.