By Eryn Brennan
In Motion Staff Writer
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, “The Visit,” is an enigma. It’s not quite a horror film, though it has horrific aspects. Mostly, it has many darkly humorous moments, but certainly is not a comedy.
“The Visit” is that rare movie that doesn’t fit neatly into any one category. The movie begins with a woman (Kathryn Hahn) being interviewed by her daughter Becca (Olivia DeJonge) about the day she left home. Becca is making a documentary about her and her younger brother, Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) meeting their grandparents for the first time.
Years earlier, their mother had a falling out with her parents over the man she had fallen in love with. On the day she left home, something terrible happened between them. What transpired exactly, she’s not telling.
All the audience knows is that it was bad enough that she hasn’t spoken to them since. Finally, 15 years later, at her parents’ request and her kids’ insistence, she allows Becca and Tyler to spend the week with their Nana and Pop Pop, played by Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, respectively.
Soon after their arrival, however, they notice that something seems to be amiss with their grandparents. When Pop Pop declares what a great week they will have, warning them to just don’t go down to the basement, we know Becca and Tyler are in for an epically bad time.
Throughout, the movie features solid performances. Dunagan in particular becomes more and more unhinged throughout the movie and is directly responsible for why viewers may never want to play hide-and-seek again. Although this isn’t a typical horror movie, there are typical horror movie tropes.
The setting of an isolated farmhouse in a rural area, for example. Or the scene that will makes audiences want to yell, “No, don’t go down there, that’s a terrible idea!”
Those looking for something action-packed will definitely not find it here. Most of the action is reserved for the last act. Yet, the movie burns with slow intensity. The promise that something sinister is waiting our protagonists is always there, even if nothing explicitly bad is happening on the screen. Rather, it’s lurking around the corner, in the next scene perhaps.
If you’re interested in seeing a movie that has intrigue, is more than a little creepy, and has the patented M. Night Shyamalan twist, you will like “The Visit.”
Editor’s Note: This review won first place in the on-the-spot critical review contest at the 56th annual Florida College System’s Publications Association conference Oct. 16.