REVIEW : The Visit (2015)

 

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit is essentially a "documentary" filmed by Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) Jamison on their week-long visit to their grandparents' farmhouse. Their mother (Kathryn Hahn) ran away from home with her English teacher back when she was young, and she hasn't seen her parents in 15 years, neither has her own children.

While the siblings are enthusiastic at first, Becca's excitement is practically overflowing as she connects with objects around the house with her mother's own childhood, they soon begin to realise that something's very, very wrong with their grandparents. Pop pop (Peter McRobbie) making mysterious trips to the shed, shotgun barrel to the back of his throat; Nana (Deanna Dunagan) doing very strange things in the dark, and insisting that Becca cleans the oven and going all the way inside while she does so. Things grow more and more eerie as the days pass.

There is a bit of Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretel feel to The Visit

Many dub The Visit as a found-footage film, and if you're to pigeonhole it into a category, that may be it. But both Shyamalan and producer Jason Blum have said that The Visit is closer to a documentary, since it was Becca's original intention to film a documentary on their visit to their grandparents. It's a ping-pong match, switching back and forth between both Becca and Tyler's camera. The Visit lacks the intentional haphazardness of most found footage films, sometimes it's stunningly beautiful, with shots of Pennsylvanian sunsets and snowy landscapes.

No cell signal, but Skyping is perfectly fine. Sure.

This might be spoiler-ey, depending on how you want to look at it, but there is a twist near the end. It's almost as good as the one in The Sixth Sense, but less mindblowing. Still, it holds it's own candle and I dare say that it is mighty brilliant in a way such that at it's reveal, you're feel like you're kindda half-expecting it, but you'll still hear screams and gasps in the hall. Nobody expects a Shyamalan twist.

(But maybe by telling you this, you'll be expecting it. Oh well.)

Perhaps The Visit is to horror films as Kingsman is to spy movies: films that accentuate all the tropes and cliches while making tiny changes to them, that the movie appears as a refreshing addition to the genre. A dash of comedy doesn't hurt either.

Other trivial musings : It's easy to be annoyed by the two kids: Becca with her pretentiousness and Tyler with his cringe-worthy rapping and street cred. But in heartfelt scenes and moments when they deliver, both Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould shine.

It's PG13 after all, how scary can it be, right?

TL;DR : A nice balance between horror and comedy. Seems like not taking itself too seriously is the new way for movies to go.

I rate it : 6/10 stars

Should you watch it? Go for it. It won't make you lose sleep, and it's definitely one of Shyamalan's better works. 

The Visit (2015)

Genre : Horror Comedy

Runtime : 94 mins

Director : M. Night Shyamalan

Cast : Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Peter McRobbie, Deanna Dunagan, Kathryn Hahn

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