THE VILLAGE

With Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Director M. Night Shyamalan's three high class thrillers The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs all have a great atmosphere, intriguing plot and serious twist. With The Village my expectations ran high, and a throw-away thought midway ended up being the big twist! The village in question is a peaceful, rural turn of the century town of simplicity, the border around the fringes a no-go area. Creatures dwell the woods and the villagers stay away, fearing their wrath. They are cut off from the rest of the world and in the event of illness, medicines cannot be obtained. With death the inevitability in one such case, the victim's beloved (a blind girl) asks permission from the elders to cross the boundary and go fetch medicine from a nearby town. This is one of those films where you have to get sucked into its narrative and let the director take you on his trip. Whether you figure out the twist is not of importance - it will in fact spoil the experience. But even so, this is not Shyamalan's most mind-blowing effort, but still a moody cinematic experience.
PS. look out for the director's reflected cameo appearance

4 / C
- PB

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