Movie review | Shyamalan shines with originality in ‘The Visit’
The Visit ***
“There’s something wrong with grandma and grandpa…”
In one of the best suspense thrillers from M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) in many years, “The Visit” is fun, at times hysterical, frightening and absolutely original. The superb cast of mostly unknowns includes Olivia DeJonge as teenager and budding documentarian Rebecca Jamison. She and her precocious 13-year-old younger brother, Tyler Jamison, played by Ed Oxenbould (“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”) agree to spend a week with their grandparents in the country.
Rebecca films the visit with the grandparents, whom they’ve never met due to their estrangement from the kids’ mother (Kathryn Hahn, “Step Brothers”). The grandparents, who start out pleasant enough, are played by Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie (“Law and Order”).
They begin to show signs of weirdness shortly after the kids are dropped off. The found-footage style of the movie suits the storyline well as it unfolds at just the right pace.
Once the real mayhem ensues the movie turns violent, gross and gruesome, but only up to a PG-13 level.
The low-budget $5 million film has already raked in close to $50 million, proving that just like a visit to grandma’s house, moviegoers are willing to give Shyamalan’s films the benefit of the doubt.
What do those stars mean?
* Really, really, really bad. Don’t bother.
** Pretty bad, with one or more redeeming scenes.
*** Pretty good, but maybe not great, worth seeing for most
**** Really great, a winning combination of story, casting, and directing
***** The rarest gem, an all-around perfect motion picture
This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Movie review | Shyamalan shines with originality in ‘The Visit’."