Movie Review: The Visit (2015)

The Visit is a 2015 found-footage, horror film directed by M. Night Shymalan. Shymalan has been in a bit of a slump for the past decade. Despite the fact that I did enjoy some of those movies, the majority weren't that good. In fact, Shymalan's last great film was the phenomenal Signs (2002) starring Mel Gibson. I dig that movie to this day. Luckily enough, The Visit broke the thirteen year career pit that Shymalan had faced. This movie is so real. Which in retrospect, is what makes it so good. From the opening scene we are faced with realistic dialogue, background stories on people that we believe, and characters that yes, we actually do care about. The film follows two kids who are sent on a train trip to go spend time with their grandparents. The children's mother had a falling out with both the grandma and the grandpa, and has not been connected with them. Upon the arrival, we instantly get the feeling that something isn't right about the grandparents. They seem in a daze, very distant, and they don't talk much. From that moment on, the movie just unravels. The situation gets even more strange due to nine-thirty bed time (set by the grandparents). I won't spoil any more of the plot, but this movie was the return of Shymalan. He made a movie that's actually creepy, has characters that we care about, and the suspense is perfectly built. As far as a twist goes, all I can say is that there is a very effective one that turns the story around. The third act in this movie is where the acting is at. That's where all the great performances start to shine from these actors and actresses. I have two problems with this movie, but they are very minor. First off, some of the dialogue from the kids is slightly over - sophisticated for their age. Words like deviance are used. While it may be that they are intelligent, the clever word choice makes the kids sound unrealistically smart. The other problem involves a plot point in which a certain police man doesn't answer his phone? That just seems weird to me. Even in most horror movies, the cops do actually answer their phone. Overall, The Visit is a good movie with great acting, creepy story line, and a great third act and conclusion. Which by the way, is actually extremely heartfelt. Three stars.