While The Visit doesn’t completely see a return to form for Shyamalan, it’s certainly a welcome step in the right direction.

The Visit cleverly hybridises generic and formal expectations, relying on the inherent conflict of mismatched conventions and aesthetics in order to create Shyamalan’s unique, slow-forming sense of unease. In playing with ageist tropes and assumptions from the subjective viewpoint of a child, what may be strange or unusual is quickly explained away through simple lack of understanding.

While aging bodies have always been a staple in the ever-broadening horizons of horror cliché, Shyamalan successfully brings this back into question.

The Visit‘s faux-documentary stylings bring fresh horrors to tired formulas.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan

DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan

WRITER: M. Night Shyamalan

SYNOPSIS: Two children meet their estranged grandparents for a long weekend in the country.

A preview screening of The Visit was kindly provided by Substance Global.