Thought Provoking

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2014)

A Utopian (?) village and community beset by a beastly condition, as captioned in preview, should capture just about anyone's interest. And in watching this by M. Night Shyamalan had me predisposed to think that this was just another run-of-the-mill monster movie, but it was not. It was a movie, and tale about just about any person or people, and experiences, and about going to the extreme in finding a solution to a problem(s) that holds in sway, if not grips everyday life.
From the locked box, to the shed; the so called "quiet-room," to the designated colors; from the commandments, and even to the prominent family surname the movie was woven into a tale that had communities from the Amish (since it was in PA), to the extreme of cults, or even the Branch Davidians of Waco leaping initially to mind. However, what kept the interest piqued were the 'creatures,' or the beasts that held this isolated community voluntarily captive, if not united, until the unexpected happened which had the community, and its elders and leaders considering to break a long held pact.
The manner in which it was performed was mediocre, however how the story unfolded, and plot thickened (so to speak) was exceptional - IMHO. From bad came good; from good came bad, and ultimately, salvation or even continuity of life itself? This flick could/may have the viewer thinking deeper than initially thought upon entering this fiction.