M. Night Shyamalan
The Visit

Let's get straight to the point. Why make a mockumentary if the result is that of a classic film? There is curated photography, the composition of the frame, cinematic editing cuts, panoramas, and even small dolly shots. Everything is clean, glossy, and well-thought-out. The camera is always in the right spot, always charged, always properly lit. It lacks that spontaneous and amateur effect that characterized the early works of this genre (The Blair Witch Project, with its dirty photography, shaky camera, ruined sound, and unfocused shots, remains the pinnacle of this cinematic trend). Yet this film has several interesting ideas. The plot is enticing, some twists are well-constructed, and there are some good insights here and there. What doesn't work is the technical packaging, making it one of the most contrived mockumentaries ever.

We have a fundamental problem, a problem called M. Night Shyamalan, who in this case is not the "The Sixth Sense" one, but the post-"The Sixth Sense" one, meaning someone who can't get things right anymore.

This guy can't do it... every time he starts with an interesting idea but consistently fails to wrap it up, he just can't manage to deliver another successful piece. Yet in this case, compared to the cinematic failures of recent years, it seems he has made more of an effort to craft a product of decent entertainment. As already mentioned, there are some interesting directorial choices, especially in a couple of perfect scenes at the end (no spoilers).

The plot is one of those interesting ones, at least on paper. A married couple goes on vacation and decides to leave their children with the maternal grandparents, grandparents they have never seen (NOT EVEN IN A PHOTO???? I asked myself that throughout the movie. NOT EVEN IN A PHOTO????). As the days go by, they realize that the grandparents have slight psychiatric disorders.

The idea of crazy grandparents is cinematographically intriguing and is a valid reason for interest. Too bad Shyamalan didn't fully utilize the potential on paper, opting for clumsy and crude directorial choices, such as playing the irony card with a certain insecurity. The audience in the theater laughs... but probably due to an unintended effect. Unfortunately, Shyamalan is not Sam Raimi, a visionary genius capable of perfectly blending the grotesque and sometimes comic element with pure terror. He tries but triggers laughter for the wrong reasons. You laugh at the sense of absurdity, not because of the humor itself. A poopy diaper slapped in the face makes you laugh, but not because of the comedy of the scene, simply because a moment of tension is interrupted by a ridiculous and inappropriate situation for that moment, it's a "WTF" laugh. Too bad the potential of an enticing story couldn't be exploited.

There is very little good left, but that little is worth mentioning. For example, the sequence of the chase game between two children under the house's foundations is well-constructed and quite creepy. The final part where the grandparents unleash their madness is also commendable. More could have been done, of course, with such potential... but let's say that Shyamalan, on several occasions, does his job quite decently.

Actors above average, especially the grandma... the real star of the film. Quite unlikeable are the two grandchildren, whom you'd wish to be roasted in the oven after the first 15 minutes.

In conclusion, it didn't take much to do better than that fiasco of "After Earth", and for better or worse, here we find an M. Night Shyamalan fairly faithful to some of his works before the total downfall.

If you want to have a moment of MERRIMENT, hearing lots of people laugh in the theater, don't go see the latest Christmas comedy by Boldi, but rely on "The Visit", which with its PG-13 rating will provide an evening of entertainment for almost everyone, with even some successful jump scares. What more could you want? After all, he is the post-"The Sixth Sense" director.