Signs (2002)

Signs is a sci-fi thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. He cuts the notion of crop circles and extraterrestrials being a hoax out of the picture early on to make this an intense ride. If you thought Stephen King's Children of the Corn was scary, wait until you see Signs.

Former Reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) lives on a farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), his son Morgan (Rory Culkin) and his daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin). Graham and Merrill wake up to the kids screaming. They run into the cornfield to find a crop circle. Officer Caroline (Cherry Jones) inspects the crop circle and notices none of the stalks are broken. She mentions animals around town have been violent. Morgan is forced to put down one of their dogs for attacking Bo.

That night, Bo wakes her father up and he sees a figure on the roof. He and Merrill try to scare it but it escapes. The next day, TV reports show crop circles showing up all over the world. They go into town and Morgan finds a book on extraterrestrials. They get back to the farm and hear a strange signal coming from Bo's baby monitor. Graham investigates the cornfield and catches a terrifying glimpse of an alien. They see more TV reports on UFO sightings and the kids make tinfoil hats. Merrill is glued to the TV and sees footage of an alien.

Ray Reddy (M. Night Shyamalan), responsible for the death of Graham's wife, tells Graham about a rumor of the aliens not liking water and that he trapped one in his pantry. Graham checks it out and chops off his fingertips through the bottom of the door. The family decides to stay in the house and they start boarding up the doors and windows. They have a feast that gets emotional. They hear a loud signal on the baby monitor and retreat to the basement when they hear the aliens breaking in upstairs. They forget about the coal shoot and an alien grabs Morgan, he suffers from an asthma attack.

They hold out in the basement until morning listening to the radio saying the aliens have left. They go upstairs to find an alien, who takes Morgan hostage. Graham recalls the last conversation he had with his wife, telling Merrill to swing away. He grabs a baseball bat off the wall and beats the alien to death, using water to weaken it. Graham gives Morgan a shot and revives him. Time passes and Graham returns to his duty at the church.

M. Night Shyamalan makes you believe aliens could invade earth at any point in time. As findings from a science fiction book surprisingly prove to be accurate, they discover aliens would come to Earth for a couple reasons. To make contact with humans or to harvest Earth's resources. The extraterrestrials would use ground combat tactics instead of using their vessels. They use crop circles as a way of navigating the Earth like a map.

There are many funny lines of dialogue, compared to the serious nature of Shyamalan's last couple of films. He generates laughs through the children and Merrill treating the absurdity of the whole scenario as a joke and equally dead serious. After Merrill sees the alien on TV, he joins the children wearing tinfoil hats to protect his mind from being read.

The characters each carry meaning to the story in their own way. Graham has the deepest impact, having lost his wife in a car accident, he recalls that night throughout the film. He loses his faith after that night and by the end regains it. Merrill is the minor league baseball home run king, except he holds the strikeout record too and never made the big leagues. Morgan has asthma and believes from the start aliens are behind the crop circles. Bo is the naive little girl who finds every reason not to drink water and listens to her brother. Shyamalan's cameo role is his most impactful to date. He plays town local Ray Reddy, causing the car accident that kills Graham's wife. You can feel Graham's pain as he converses with him.

Signs is another great thriller by Shyamalan. The music creates an uneasy atmosphere, keeping you on the edge of your seat. I recommend Signs to teens and adults. 3.5/4

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Sixth Sense is M. Night Shyamalan's breakthrough project, becoming the highest-grossing horror film of all-time until It broke the record in 2017. The iconic twist ending became a signature trait in Shyamalan's film making. This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Sixth Sense, as it's still regarded as one of the best thrillers of all-time.

Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist in Philadelphia. He's recognized with a reward for his work and his wife Anna (Olivia Williams) couldn't be more proud. They go into their bedroom to see someone has broken in. Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg) is a former patient of Malcolm and accuses him of failing to help him. He pulls out a gun and shoots Malcolm before turning the gun on himself.

The next fall, Malcolm observes a 9-year old boy, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). Malcolm follows him to a church and introduces himself. Cole asks if he's a good doctor and he responds saying he used to be. On his way out, Cole steals a figurine. At home, Cole's mother Lynn (Toni Collette) walks out of the kitchen and returns to all the cabinets and drawers open before Cole leaves for school. Cole comes home from school to see his mother and Malcolm waiting for him. Malcolm plays a mind-reading game with Cole but he ends up walking away.

Malcolm shows up late to dinner with Anna, he rambles as she stays silent. She takes the check and says happy anniversary as she walks out. Cole tells Malcolm he's a freak and he reassures him he isn't. Cole doesn't want to be scared anymore. He ends up in detention after telling the class people were hung in the school. At a classmate's birthday party, he hears voices coming from the attic. The bullies lock him in the attic and he's taken to the hospital. Malcolm visits him and Cole reveals his secret. He sees dead people. He explains they see what they want to see and they don't know they're dead.


Back home, the temperature drops and he sees a woman in his kitchen. The next night, he sees a boy with a gunshot wound on the back of his head. Malcolm suggests Cole listen and help the ghosts. That night, he finds a girl in his tent and speaks to her. They go to the girl's funeral reception and she gives him a box to give to her father. Inside the box is a tape, revealing her mother poisoning her soup.

Cole learns to live with the ghosts he sees and gives Malcolm the idea to talk to his wife in her sleep. Cole and his mother are stuck in traffic and he decides to reveal his secret. To prove it, he tells her a story about his grandmother, who visits him sometimes. He tells his mother she was there for her dance recital and the answer to her question is "every day." He asks what her question was and she says "Do I make her proud?"

Malcolm visits Anna in her sleep watching their wedding video. She asks why he left her and drops the wedding ring. Malcolm remembers what Cole told him about ghosts and the fact he was shot by Vincent, which killed him. He finds the bullet wound, realizing he's still wearing the same clothes, revealing he's been dead the entire time. He tells Anna he loves her and his spirit is engulfed in white light.

The Sixth Sense definitely requires more than one viewing. I remember seeing it for the first time in my father's workshop when I was in middle school. Besides Signs, I had been sheltered from scary movies, but it didn't scare me as much as it made me feel what Cole felt. When he was trapped in the attic and we started to see the ghosts that scared him are the moments I feared. You can't help but feel bad for a kid that can't control his supernatural sense.

Once the twist is revealed, you want to go back to find a mistake the filmmakers might have made, making you believe he wasn't actually dead the entire time. Except there are no mistakes. It's perfectly executed to impact first-time viewers just as much as people who have seen it many times. Besides the bedroom scene where Malcolm was shot, the only person who acknowledges him is Cole.

The use of the color red is a major theme representing anything from the real world tainted by the other world. One example when the color red is shown frequently is at the birthday party. A red balloon floats to the top of a spiraling red staircase and Cole is wearing a red sweater when we hear the voices for the first time. Cole's tent is red and hides there when he sees the ghosts. Malcolm's wife wears a red dress for their anniversary. Malcolm tries opening a locked door with a ruby red doorknob.

Haley Joel Osment was perfectly cast as Cole. He tries to be a normal kid and fit in but can't help seeing the dead, causing him to be afraid everywhere he goes. Until the end and with the help of Malcolm, he finds a way to share his secret with his mother. Bruce Willis was in almost every scene, following Cole wherever he went. He realized he wasn't paying enough attention to his wife when he sees her with another man. Olivia Williams does an excellent job in her scenes, showing grief but leaving us wondering if she's ignoring Malcolm. Toni Collette plays the hardworking mother and touches us beautifully in the emotional final act. Donnie Wahlberg plays a minor but important character. He lost 43 pounds for the role, making him appear gaunt and almost unrecognizable.

The Sixth Sense is the third film directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan. It's by far his best film to date, up there with Hitchcock's classics. It's one of the best thrillers ever made and deserves to be seen many times. I highly recommend this film to adults and kids 10 or older.

4/4

Supplements:
Storyboard-to-Film Comparison
The Cast
Rules & Clues

Wide Awake (1998)

Wide Awake is the second film written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It's a religious comedy revolving around a 10-year-old boy in search of faith after his grandfather passes away.

Josh Beal is enrolled in the 5th grade at a Catholic school in Philadelphia. He takes comfort in spending time with his grandfather. In school, he's known for asking too many questions. He asks Sister Terry about baptism, causing him and the class to second guess their beliefs. His best friend Dave doesn't believe in God, saying too many bad things happen to good people for no reason. Josh tries out for the football team and gets bullied.

When his grandfather passes away, he begins searching for faith and evidence of God. He wants to know for sure that his grandfather is in heaven. Dave asks him about girls, replying he hasn't felt a biological reaction yet. He sneaks into the girls' school and sees the cardinal upset after a lecture. This leads him to question if he can actually speak to God. Josh asks his parents over dinner if they can take a vacation to Rome and he's denied.

Josh has a meeting with Sister Terry about his search for God. He's practiced other religions in attempts to speak to God but remains without results. He sits in his grandfather's chair and talks to him in a vision. The girl he likes gives him a rose. Josh finds Dave in his room having an epileptic seizure. Dave believes in God and miracles after Josh saved his life. He tells Josh not to give up his mission.

Josh gives a speech about his 5th-grade transformation. He sees the value in family and friendship, seeing past why people do what they do and coming to terms with life and death. He's wide awake. He sees the boy that helped him escape the school and tells Josh He's happy now. Josh realizes the boy was an angel.

Joseph Cross plays an intelligent young boy who is raised Catholic but starts wondering if what he's been taught is true. Josh constantly questions his own religion as well as others in his search for God. He comes to the conclusion that people spend their entire life searching for faith and death is something that happens all the time.

Rosie O'Donnell is a pleasant surprise in her role as a nun and teacher at the school. She's a diehard Phillies fan and uses baseball references in her lessons. She respects Josh for questioning his faith and helps him cope with his grandfather's death.

Shyamalan wrote Wide Awake in 1991, filmed it in 1995 and didn't release it until 1998. His use of religious ideas raises more questions than it answers. It does have a twist ending, but it's not major by any means. I'm not certain if kids would enjoy a film like this. It speaks deeply about religion, coming-of-age, life and death. Even though it's a story about a 5th grader, it feels more sophisticated than a normal children's movie.

Wide Awake shows potential in Shyamalan's skills as a writer and director. It's worth checking out if you're interested in his works before The Sixth Sense. I recommend this film to adults. 3/4

Praying with Anger (1992)

Praying with Anger is M. Night Shyamalan's film debut. He wrote, produced, directed and stars this cultural drama.

Dev Raman (M. Night Shyamalan) is an Indian-American who goes to India as an exchange student. His father passed away and they didn't have a good relationship. He stays with the Mojan family and becomes friends with Sanjay (Mike Muthu) and Rupal (Richie Ahuja Badami). Dev only speaks English and he learns about the importance of religion in India.

Dev sees a pretty girl in class and Sanjay tells him not to pursue her. He walks up and touches her shoulder, causing a gang fight to break out. Dev tells Rupal about America and free love before her father takes her away and punishes her for talking to him. Dev is kicked out of class for not understanding. He visits a famous saint after changing his attitude towards India.

A gang forces Dev to ask girls inappropriate questions. Rupal is punished for wanting to be with a man of low status. Dev is beaten up by the gang, forcing him to get drunk and cross a busy road. Dev finds out his father loved him. He and Sanjay are robbed on the road. They go to work cutting up fish so they have money to get home. Dev plays football with a group of kids. They find out they missed their exams.

A drunken mob breaks a window and Sanjay wants revenge. Dev fights a guy who almost kills a man. Dev throws gasoline on the mob and threatens to light them on fire. He gets them to disperse. Dev and Sanjay passed their exams. Rupal tells Dev she's engaged to a guy she's never met. Dev tells her about the book he's going to write. Dev confesses his love for Rupal. After three months in India, Dev is heading back to the states. He felt more love and hate than ever before and comes to terms with his heritage.

Shyamalan's character is a foreigner in his native country of India. His Western culture ideals clash with the traditional ways of life in India. He doesn't understand the separation of genders until he gets attacked by a group of guys for touching a girl. Dev is the only character with any depth in the story. Sanjay acts mostly as a guide who knows the rules of the country. Rupal is only significant because of her limitations as a woman. Shyamalan wants us to put ourselves in her shoes and imagine what that life is like, being forced into a blind marriage.

Praying with Anger is Shyamalan's first attempt at film making, showing his potential. It deals with powerful themes and vastly different cultures coming together. It's far from a great film, but I recommend it to fans of M. Night Shyamalan.

2/4