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
