Old Review

Old

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, and Eliza Scanlen

1h 48m

 

It was 1999 when director M. Night Shyamalan directed one of the great horror films, "The Sixth Sense," a film that changed the landscape of genre filmmaking moving into the new millennium. Fast-forward 22 years later, and the director is still composing his brand of a scary movie with old school "Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" vibes with the newest entry "Old." 

 

In "Old," a group of vacationers looking for a relaxing day at a beach encounter a strange anomaly that rapidly ages them. Making thirty minutes resemble about a year of life. The Shyamalan story, borrowed from the 2010 graphic novel "Sandcastle" by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, preys on the fears associated with time and the questions that arise when life disappears in the blink of an eye. 

 

Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) are on vacation at a remote paradise island with their two kids Trent (Nolan River) and Maddox (Alexa Swinton). The beautiful resort, which greets its guests at the door with a fancy drink and offers lodging in glass-walled rooms, feels too good to be true. Guy and Prisca struggle with their relationship and use this getaway to escape the reality of their situation, one that feels already finalized once they return home. An invitation to visit a remote beach feels like the perfect adventure for Guy, Prisca, and their kids. However, once on the secluded sandy piece of paradise, strange events begin to happen. Trent and Maddox begin to outgrow their swimsuits, the adults develop wrinkles on their faces, and a dead body rapidly decomposes. The group realizes the beach is making them to age rapidly, causing them to desperately search for a way off the coast before their time runs out. 

 

"Old" is equal parts silly and thought-provoking. Shyamalan, who has always had a knack for turning a "Twilight Zone" episode into something bigger, writes a film that wants to talk about the deeper existential complexities of the aging process but instead remains a surface-level body horror thriller. 

 

Now, don't get me wrong, there is still fun with the sensations and spectacle introduced every few minutes in "Old." Watching young Trent (played older by Alex Wolff) and Maddox (played older by Thomasin McKenzie) age into teenagers with a new understanding of emotions is amusing. Seeing a cardiothoracic surgeon, played with glee by Rufus Sewell, mumble about forgetting which movie Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson starred in while also performing a gory beach surgery will make you smile and squirm. During the visceral moments, the director's restraint does a great job of allowing the viewer to connect the dots independently, which is often far scarier than seeing the event. At times the camera will circle like a ticking clock or sway back and forth like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. These technical pieces assist in adding tension.

 

Shyamalan understands how to evoke the big emotions in "Old" but misses the smaller, more interesting pieces that ultimately get left behind or interrupted for the big scare or twist. But in small moments, Shyamalan taps into the fear and trauma of the aging process with clever insights during unexpected scenes. One is when Maddox, who has aged into the caretaker role for her sibling and parents, walks into the ocean waves reciting positive affirmations to help her understand the situation she is tasked. This moment connects to the inevitable role some adults will take with elderly parents and children. Another is when Guy begins to have vision issues, and Prisca starts losing her hearing, the moment plays with subtlety. Both characters refuse to acknowledge the problem; instead, they hide it and modify their physical positions to fit their new health concerns. Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps are excellent in these smaller moments. 

 

"Old" spends most of its nearly 2-hour runtime indulging in its horror and thriller genre characteristics. While these moments are amusing within the film's premise, Shyamalan never unites these pieces to the ultimate horror of time being taken from someone. The memories, the feelings, the experiences, the whole reason why these people are desperate to escape the beach, are pushed into small scenes that rarely spend enough time to connect the sentiments to the situation. While "Old" sets up an engaging premise with amusing character turns, the final result will fade from memory faster than time passes on this beach. 

 

Monte's Rating

2.25 out of 5.00

Split

 

Split

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan 

Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, and Betty Buckley

M. Night Shyamalan is on a career upswing and “Split” is somewhat of a return to an earlier form for the director of the standout fright film “The Sixth Sense” and the superhero influenced “Unbreakable”. Mr. Shyamalan was, and still is, unfortunately type casted as a director known for surprising, shocking twist endings. This makes watching his films somewhat of a difficult and frustrating ordeal because of the need to overanalyze every aspect. Still, minus a few films, Mr. Shyamalan has crafted a career that indulges in the art of the mystery and the writer/director displays with “Split” that he can still build an effectively suspenseful film that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next.

“Split” is about a man (James McAvoy) of many names, this is because of the many personalities that fight for the spotlight in his mind. The first personality we are introduced to is the cleanliness obsessed Dennis who invades a car filled with three teenage girls, drugs them, and kidnaps them. Dennis is just one of 23 other personalities, or “alters” as the film describes it. Once in captivity the three girls begin to witness the depths of this man’s personality disorder, and the dangerous designs in store for them.

 

“Split” doesn’t waste much time getting into the grit of the situation. It takes less than 10 minutes to place the three girls in captivity and introduce the antagonist to the viewer. Mr. Shyamalan establishes the situation then takes a step back to let the personalities of all the characters settle in. The director has always done a particularly great job of building characters and providing a very genuine and authentic feel to how they communicate with each other. The three girls are interesting and compose a good dynamic together. Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) is the outsider of the three girls; she is abnormally calm and particularly watchful when Dennis comes into the room to explain the situation of their captivity. Through a series of flashbacks we see young Casey on a hunting trip with her father and uncle and begin to realize how she connects with this situation. Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), the feisty and proactive one, and Marcia (Jessica Sula), the nervous and fearful one, are also provided with interesting moments that help with defining their characters. Together these three young women compose an interesting survivalist group. 

 

The aspect of being a victim isn’t only reflected in the primary story but in the backstory of the main protagonist and antagonist. Trauma has changed these individuals, which makes their decisions an influence of their trauma. While Mr. Shyamalan utilizes these aspects to offer some interesting concepts to the composition of the characters, specifically within the multi-personalities of the James McAvoy’s character, there are few moments when it takes on an uglier perspective through the camera’s eye. These young women, who are utilized together to challenge the common tropes associated with women in genre films, are often displayed through the camera as mere objects in very little clothing. Together the group of women are stronger than when they are eventually separated, the films stalls a bit once this occurs.

 

James McAvoy elevates this film so much. His performance of numerous characters with distinctive qualities is exceptional; one particular scene is especially fantastic and displays the great range Mr. McAvoy possesses. Ms. Taylor-Joy is building quite a catalog of performances; here she is a great balance to Mr. McAvoy’s indulgence but is also provided with moments that display the strength she must own. 

Misdirection is one of the most powerful tools in Mr. Shyamalan’s writing arsenal, and he utilizes it with great success in this film. It’s as if he is toying with assumptions and perceptions that have influenced films throughout his entire career. That’s probably why the film feels most in line with his early career work. What transpires over the course of “Split” is suspenseful even if the mystery falls apart as more aspects are introduced. Still, in the hands of Mr. Shyamalan you can't help but remain engaged until the final moment.

Monte’s Rating

3.25 out of 5.00

The Visit Review

The Visit

Dir: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn

94 Minutes

Universal Pictures

“The Visit” is a modern day spin of a grim fairy tale; you might call it “Hansel and Gretel” the documentary. Director M. Night Shyamalan returns with another frightening tale where children are placed in the center of complicated, sometimes perilous, situations; a theme utilized most prominently in his films “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs”. It’s a common story in horror films, a topic that can heighten the moments of tension and terror if used properly. Shyamalan, a director whose films have been a mix of accomplishment and disappointment, crafts an effective horror film with “The Visit”, a scaled down success of simple and strategic storytelling heavy on the “creepy” factor.

Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are siblings who are preparing to meet their estranged grandparents for the first time. Becca is an inquisitive and budding filmmaker, hoping to make this first-time meeting into a documentary. Tyler does what younger brothers do best…annoy their older sisters, though Tyler will occasionally break out into a rapping freestyle to add insult to injury. Becca and Tyler’s Mom (Kathryn Hahn) is a single parent who left her family as a teenager under secretive circumstances. The kids arrive in a cozy small town, greeted by Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) at the train station. The two eager grandparents are loving and caring, if a little absent minded. However, once the sun goes down everything changes.

Shyamalan has always been good at building his characters; with “The Visit” he takes a natural approach to establishing the relationship between the siblings and the connection with their lone parent. The journey for these children to meet their grandparents is partly a way for them to understand their mother, who comes off a bit disheartened by her life thus far, and to come to terms with the emotional distress caused by the abandonment of their father, a decision that has left damaging emotional impressions on the children. Shyamalan touches on these aspects with very minimal direct referencing, an attribute to the tightly composed narrative and the abilities of the young actors playing these roles. This early development creates an essential investment with the characters, one that Shyamalan manipulates as soon as the strange and unusual begins to happen at Nana and Pop Pop’s house. While not necessarily scary, though the annoyingly forced jump scares try to evoke this feeling, it’s the unusual behavior of the grandparents that becomes unnerving. Nana chasing the kids in a creepy crawling position while whispering “I’m gonna get ya” is one memorable instance.

The film builds to a great climax before the inevitable reveal of the mystery arrives, a defining quality that has followed Shyamalan throughout his career. It’s neither disappointing nor satisfying here, which is a good thing because the ending simply works to accommodate the structure of the story that has been told.

“The Visit” plays like a campfire tale while finding inspiration from a bunch of different horror films. Ploys like an old, dark house, wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing monsters, and the hand-held horror techniques are some of the genre characteristics that are utilized by Shyamalan. While some of time this works other times it falls into familiar trappings, still “The Visit” is effectively strange enough to keep one watching until the end.

Monte’s Rating

3.25 out of 5.00