The Village | Review & Score

About: A series of events tests the beliefs of a small isolated countryside village.

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the release of M. Night Shyamalan's THE VILLAGE, I'm finally going to do a proper full review of one of my favorite films of all time.

One of the most well crafted thrillers of the 21st Century, by far. From the tone, setting, musical score, sense of dread and being compiled on within a small community of 'outsiders', Shyamalan really put his full potential into The Village.

I was pretty creeped out by Shyalaman's movie SIGNS, especially the ending and that one scene, you know the one. So, with that feeling, going into The Village was a lot like going into Signs... I had no idea what to expect. Afterall, Shyamalan is known for his twists at the end. Once I heard what the synopsis was, I could only imagine what this experience would end up like.

...and it did NOT disappoint one bit. From the opening credits to the closing scene, The Village takes you on a large feeling of dread, makes you feel isolated and makes you wonder all possibilities that could come forth each frame that hits. The performances from Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix and Adrien Brody are terrific and really put you in their head space throughout the movie.

It's nowhere near the scariest film you'll see, but it maintains a certain creep to it that falls with the line of how the characters are reacting to certain events happening, knowing what they know and are aware of with the enemies. Even with that, you know there is something more sinister at work. And it's really clever how Shyamalan brings that to our attention, with each frame.

I care about how a film LOOKS. You can only go so far with a movie, with the performances. You gotta have that look and feel for what is building up. If that makes sense... then you know what I mean wholeheartedly. Anyways, longer story short... M. Night Shyamalan's The Village is a phenomenal piece of atmosphere that only a handful of Directors can muster off, Shy being one of them.

It has his style there to display, but with hints of past works not by Shy. Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but this movie is just so well done. So well crafted and always makes me wonder how Shy can top it. To this day, the closest he has gotten to this level is with THE VISIT.

If you're a Shyamalan fan, you'll really enjoy The Village.

4.5/5

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