This review may contain spoilers.
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine’s review published on Letterboxd:
Action!: The Campy, The Violent and The Plot Twist — Its a Plot Twist! The Shyamalan Chronicles
The sign that your movie is cleverly written is when you are literally telegraphing what happens to your audience and anyone can't catch up on the first viewing. Like Shyamalan, he uses the color "red" when something goes wrong, when something reveals itself to be a lie, a "red herring", if you like. Yet he also throws other things at you that end up confusing you. Toni, for instance, is going through the room when we see the color red an improvised red tent followed by all these messed up writing leading one to believe Cole might be another killer like Donnie at the beginning. Damn! I wouldn't be surprised if many thought they were watching a flashback.
We could also discuss how he addresses one of the film's major themes: alienation. This is not only through the character of Cole or the way this visions may be caused by supernatural powers or some early symptom of mental illness, but how has his relationship with his wife changed since the accident. I like the way the story is written in a way that both the twist and the idea of their relationship being fractured after this event make sense (but as the love between the wife and this other guy grows, you begin to suspect she might be a woeful b--ch or something else).
In regards to how Shyamalan builds on the horror, the movie has some jump scares, but it focuses more on psychological terror, so fear comes more in the form of dread and sense of danger (though we can all agree the Mischa's scene is still traumatic). In my opinion, this is due to the fact that the primary goal Shyamalan aims for is not to make a mindless scarefest, but to tell a human story about trauma. This is a story about repression and depression and the inability to let go. I have to give credit where credit is due; none of this would have worked if it weren't for Haley's exceptional performance in the film, one of the greatest child performances in cinema history that captures every emotion, from fear to a great sense of joy towards the end. Willis does an excellent job delivering the charm but also capturing and delivering the somber that fits, again, the character's arc as well as the final reveal.
All in all, while it's not a film that will appeal everyone, but it's a movie that shows its director at a level he would fight to surpass for the rest of his career. Nevertheless, thanks to some great settings and brilliant multi-layered writing, you can see why the movie reached such an iconic status.
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