In a world where week-long visits with your grandparents already seem like a nightmare, director M. Night Shyamalan has turned that nightmare into something much worse. Since my first encounter with his films when I watched “The Sixth Sense” and got my adolescent mind blown, I’ve had a place in my thriller-loving heart for just about anything made by this guy. Throughout the years he’s had his ups and downs in the cinematic world of horror and thriller films, not to mention the flop with “The Last Airbender” and the confusing and anticlimactic plot of “The Happening,” so I was excited and intrigued to experience his attempt at redemption with “The Visit.”
Despite the casting of one of my personal comedy favorites, Kathryn Hahn, who plays Paula Jamison, the young and free-spirited “cool mom” who sends her two children off to her parents’ house whom she hasn’t spoken to in 15 years, the comedy in this film is light and seems to be meant to ease the tension and anxiety. Paula’s two kids, Rebecca and Tyler, played by Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould, are invited to stay at their grandparents’ house for a week while their mother sails away on a cruise ship with her boyfriend. Rebecca is a teenage aspiring filmmaker and decides to turn this trip into a forgiveness documentary between her mother and grandmother, hoping to mend the broken pieces that were made when her mother eloped with her high school teacher 15 years prior.
The moments after Rebecca and Tyler step off the train and meet their grandparents up until the last moment of the film can only be described as creepy. Now, this isn’t my first Shyamalan rodeo so I was prepared for that.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the cheesy scenes. And there are a few. It puts a lull on the vibe this film gives and is one of the only components I didn’t really like.
But then there’s the twist — there’s always a twist.
It’s a pretty good twist, and executed well. Not “The Sixth Sense” good, but worthy enough to elicit a gasp from me. It’s what makes the movie worth seeing and gives it purpose. Before the twist, it just seemed like grandma and grandpa needed to be put into a nursing home.
This film is told from Rebecca and Tyler’s point of view. And let me just say, these kids were great. Their characters complimented each other well and I loved watching them interact.
But does this film live up to my expectations? To be honest, not really. The plot was just OK up until the climax, and the scenes were meant to look as if they were shot by an amateur filmmaker with a handheld camera, so there’s not a lot to go off of in that department.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie is not a complete flop. It has great young actors, notable moments of jumping out of your seat and a home-hitting moral. It didn’t necessarily give me the chills I was expecting, but it definitely makes you never want to stay at your grandparents’ house.
Victoria Lutgring
