Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
M. Night Shyalaman has had something of a tumultuous career; he first won us over with brilliant thrillers like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable in the 1990s, and followed them with alien flick Signs, but after 2004’s The Village, things seemed to take a bit of a turn for the writer/director. The master of the twist, the owner of the tension-driven buildup suddenly took things down a few notches. Four consecutive critical flops – Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth – led to a dramatic decrease in love for the once-acclaimed director. What had happened to the once-great storyteller? Had he lost his touch? On Shyamalan’s 47th birthday, we’re looking at how he got in touch with his sinister side again with flicks like The Visit and Split.
Shyamalan has always stood out in a crowded genre for one particular reason; he knows how to meld thriller genre conventions with poignant emotional messaging. Whether it was the healing in processing grief in The Sixth Sense, the discovery that superpowers can help those who can’t help themselves in Unbreakable, the restoration of faith in Signs, or the realization of the power of love in The Village, many of his films have come layered with a complexity that most filmmakers dream of creating. He’s always understood the power of utilizing unconventional sources for exposition so it doesn’t feel like we’re being inundated with too much explanation, and he’s used sound in a way that only masters of the genre do. Somewhere along the way, this notion seemed to get lost; with the loud, occasionally laughable moments in flicks like After Earth and The Happening, it seemed he’d fallen victim to the mainstream attempts to try and wow us right out of the gate rather than finding meaning in subtlety and suspense.
The early, rapid ascent of Shyamalan’s career will probably never be duplicated again, but luckily, he has begun to produce unique, genuinely thrilling flicks in the last few years – starting with The Visit. Sure, the film doesn’t match the caliber of his previous hits, but it’s a welcome change from the last few things we’ve seen him put out. Unlike anything previously in the director’s wheelhouse, the film is actually done in a found-footage horror style, and it’s utilized to great effect.
While The Visit certainly started getting us excited about Shyamalan again, his real recent triumph, Split, is what truly proves that he’s back and ready to show us a whole new side of him. James McAvoy is a force every moment he’s on screen, and the development of tension is of the top-notch quality Shyamalan first showed us in his early work. It’s beautifully shot (much like Signs and The Village) and its unique pacing makes it equally unpredictable and enjoyable. Rather than exploiting the multiple personality disorder suffered by his main character, he manages to find the humanity in him, making his terrifying relationship with the young women he’s abducted even more compelling. It’s as heart-racing as the work that made us fall in love with him, and it marks a very intriguing new chapter for the filmmaker.
It’s safe to say that Shyamalan has certainly received a lot of unwarranted flack over the years; sure, his losing streak was disappointing, but when films like Signs and The Village are dragged into it, it seems unfair. As with many directors, expectations frequently get in the way of an appreciation for their work, and Shylaman has been no stranger to harsh criticism over the years. Split truly demonstrates that he’s once again headed in the right direction, and with some big projects (including Glass, a Split/Unbreakable crossover) in the pipeline, we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.
