After wasting a full decade reducing his greatness to memes about twist endings, the world has rightly come back around on M. Night Shyamalan. But while his critical and commercial reappraisal started in earnest in 2016 with the release of Split, the truth is that Shyamalan never really went away. With the release of Trap on Max, we’re taking some time to go back and look at why the world was wrong to shun him after The Village, and why the movies he made between The Village and Split may be a whole lot better than they’re given credit for. Almost a decade into his comeback tour, it’s time to finally admit that M. Night Shyamalan always had it. It was the people who were wrong.
M. Night’s always had it
M. Night Shyamalan’s rises and falls have more to do with us than him
![polygon-mosaic (13)](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/polygon-mosaic-13.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Graphic: Pete Volk/Polygon | Source images: Various
Graphic: Pete Volk/Polygon | Source images: Various
Everything in M. Night’s always had it
![M. Night Shyamalan’s cameos ranked in order of importance](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/MCDOLDD_UV002.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![M. Night Shyamalan’s cameos ranked in order of importance](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/MCDOLDD_UV002.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
M. Night’s always had it
![M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is a perfect Hitman movie](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/74639279007-rev-1-trpt-10029-r-high-res-jpeg.webp?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.890625%2C0%2C56.21875%2C100&w=2400)
![M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is a perfect Hitman movie](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/74639279007-rev-1-trpt-10029-r-high-res-jpeg.webp?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8359375%2C0%2C84.328125%2C100&w=2400)
![Lady in the Water is the bridge between 2 eras of M. Night Shyamalan](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/MCDLAIN_EC027-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.071326676176895%2C100%2C99.857346647646&w=2400)
M. Night’s always had it
![M. Night Shyamalan has always been brilliant. It’s audiences who are finally catching up](https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/polygon-mosaic-12.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
M. Night’s always had it