Movie Review: THE VISIT

Love him or hate him, M. Night Shyamalan is still making films. The man was compared to Spielberg in some of mainstream media in the early 2000’s, so it is kind of odd to see someone of this comparison is doing a film like The Visit. A film that is supposed to make you believe that two kids are making a documentary about their Nana and Pop Pop whom they have never met due to their mother leaving her home when she was pregnant with the older child.

Obviously, I want to keep most of the plot under wraps and you should go in as blind as you can to squeeze out maximum enjoyment out of the film. Let it be known, The Visit is a comedy. A dark-comedy with the remainder after the twist reveal (it’s Shyamalan, did you expect there not to be a twist?) minutes turning into horror (but still laughable at times).

While I never bought into Shyamalan’s comparison to Steven Spielberg, the one thing that I thought they had in common was the identification to child-like wonder and the fact that children are treated on a normal playing field with their adults. That still rings true in The Visit, with Olivia DeJonge as the documentarian film nerd, Becca and Ed Oxenbould playing her obnoxious brother, Tyler. Oxenbould is the comic relief of the film. At times, his characteristics and his freestyle rap (yes, rap) gets a little tiresome and annoying. But, let’s be honest, kids can be annoying at times, it is in their nature as they are trying to figure this thing we call “life” out. The actors playing Nana and Pop Pop are also pretty good but sometimes their acting is a bit over-the-top, which might clue some people in on the twist.

For the most part, this film is a comedy. It seems like it is intentional but at times where Shyamalan wants to scare you, it still comes across as goofy and comedic. I think The Visit is the best film he has done since Signs (which was also a bit goofy at times), but that really isn’t saying much since that film was released 13 years ago. I think low budget films is where Shyamalan needs to stay. He is no longer the top billing name he once was but he still has a strong sensibility to filmmaking when he is broken down to the bare minimum. Outside of Unbreakable, this is where Shyamalan shines.