seasonalsalmon

While it started out ok and we have some idea already of (and obviously revealed in the trailers) what's going to happen, I just can't get myself to root for anybody. Is this a problem? Maybe? Are we rooting for the villain like say Hannibal Lecter? What if it's a real person like Dhamer are we supporting his success? Shyamalan's movies will always get us to guess for the twist, I mean what if he's not a villain afterall, are we supporting the losing team? Now all this theorycrafting and the director's mind games can actually get in the way of the movie enjoyment. I just can't support anybody because they are now all suspect. If I support the wrong guy then I won't get to enjoy it as much.

When everything is done and all I felt kind of unfulfilled in the end. No movie should play on audience's emotions like that with all the back and forth checkmates. I know Shyamalan's has built a reputation for these kinds of 'twists' but now that we find ourselves looking for it I just can't appreciate it anymore. But at least there's one thing I'm pretty sure I didn't like in the movie - Nepotism.

This is a nicely crafted blend of story, dialogue and cinematography. Not so much for the ghostly effects but it's ok. I'd rather have a cleverly written story with so-so special effects than a triple A cgi title with no substance these days.

This feels more of a mish-mash of drama and murder mystery than horror. Some of the props do look creepy and unnerving and they work well to push through the story. Don't expect a lot of jumpscares, there's not a lot which is a good thing. It's all about the atmosphere.

All in all I can't find much faults except for the cheap-ish sfx and costumes, but that's only for a few seconds of the movie anyway. What matters here is the mystery to solve. Great popcorn movie.