the visit film explication

M. Night Shyamalan had his heyday almost 20 years ago. He leapt out of the gate with such confidence he became a champion instantly. And then…something went awry. He became embarrassingly self-serious, his films drowning in pretension and strained allegories. His famous twists felt like a director attempting to re-create the triumph of “ The Sixth Sense ,” where the twist of the film was so successfully withheld from audiences that people went back to see the film again and again. But now, here comes “ The Visit ,” a film so purely entertaining that you almost forget how scary it is. With all its terror, “The Visit” is an extremely funny film. 

There are too many horror cliches to even list (“gotcha” scares, dark basements, frightened children, mysterious sounds at night, no cellphone reception), but the main cliche is that it is a “found footage” film, a style already wrung dry. But Shyamalan injects adrenaline into it, as well as a frank admission that, yes, it is a cliche, and yes, it is absurd that one would keep filming in moments of such terror, but he uses the main strength of found footage: we are trapped by the perspective of the person holding the camera. Withhold visual information, lull the audience into safety, then turn the camera, and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT? 

“The Visit” starts quietly, with Mom ( Kathryn Hahn ) talking to the camera about running away from home when she was 19: her parents disapproved of her boyfriend. She had two kids with this man who recently left them all for someone new. Mom has a brave demeanor, and funny, too, referring to her kids as “brats” but with mama-bear affection. Her parents cut ties with her, but now they have reached out  from their snowy isolated farm and want to know their grandchildren. Mom packs the two kids off on a train for a visit.

Shyamalan breaks up the found footage with still shots of snowy ranks of trees, blazing sunsets, sunrise falling on a stack of logs. There are gigantic blood-red chapter markers: “TUESDAY MORNING”, etc. These choices launch us into the overblown operatic horror style while commenting on it at the same time. It ratchets up the dread.

Becca ( Olivia DeJonge ) and Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) want to make a film about their mother’s lost childhood home, a place they know well from all of her stories. Becca has done her homework about film-making, and instructs her younger brother about “frames” and “mise-en-scène.” Tyler, an appealing gregarious kid, keeps stealing the camera to film the inside of his mouth and his improvised raps. Becca sternly reminds him to focus. 

The kids are happy to meet their grandparents. They are worried about the effect their grandparents’ rejection had on their mother (similar to Cole’s worry about his mother’s unfinished business with her own parent in “The Sixth Sense”). Becca uses a fairy-tale word to explain what she wants their film to do — it will be an “elixir” to bring home to Mom. 

Nana ( Deanna Dunagan ), at first glance, is a Grandma out of a storybook, with a grey bun, an apron, and muffins coming out of the oven every hour. Pop Pop ( Peter McRobbie ) is a taciturn farmer who reminds the kids constantly that he and Nana are “old.” 

But almost immediately, things get crazy. What is Pop Pop doing out in the barn all the time? Why does Nana ask Becca to clean the oven, insisting that she crawl all the way in ? What are those weird sounds at night from outside their bedroom door? They have a couple of Skype calls with Mom, and she reassures them their grandparents are “weird” but they’re also old, and old people are sometimes cranky, sometimes paranoid. 

As the weirdness intensifies, Becca and Tyler’s film evolves from an origin-story documentary to a mystery-solving investigation. They sneak the camera into the barn, underneath the house, they place it on a cabinet in the living room overnight, hoping to get a glimpse of what happens downstairs after they go to bed. What they see is more than they (and we) bargained for.

Dunagan and McRobbie play their roles with a melodramatic relish, entering into the fairy-tale world of the film. And the kids are great, funny and distinct. Tyler informs his sister that he wants to stop swearing so much, and instead will say the names of female pop singers. The joke is one that never gets old. He falls, and screams, “Sarah McLachlan!” When terrified, he whispers to himself, “ Katy Perry … ” Tyler, filming his sister, asks her why she never looks in the mirror. “Your sweater is on backwards.” As he grills her, he zooms in on her, keeping her face off-center, blurry grey-trunked trees filling most of the screen. The blur is the mystery around them. Cinematographer Maryse Alberti creates the illusion that the film is being made by kids, but also avoids the nauseating hand-held stuff that dogs the found-footage style.

When the twist comes, and you knew it was coming because Shyamalan is the director, it legitimately shocks. Maybe not as much as “The Sixth Sense” twist, but it is damn close. (The audience I saw it with gasped and some people screamed in terror.) There are references to “ Halloween “, “Psycho” (Nana in a rocking chair seen from behind), and, of course, “ Paranormal Activity “; the kids have seen a lot of movies, understand the tropes and try to recreate them themselves. 

“The Visit” represents Shyamalan cutting loose, lightening up, reveling in the improvisational behavior of the kids, their jokes, their bickering, their closeness. Horror is very close to comedy. Screams of terror often dissolve into hysterical laughter, and he uses that emotional dovetail, its tension and catharsis, in almost every scene. The film is ridiculous  on so many levels, the story playing out like the most monstrous version of Hansel & Gretel imaginable, and in that context, “ridiculous” is the highest possible praise.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O’Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

• Deanna Dunagan as Nana
• Olivia DeJonge as Rebecca Jamison
• Ed Oxenbould as Tyler Jamison
• Kathryn Hahn as Mother
• Peter McRobbie as Pop-Pop
• Benjamin Kanes as Dad
• Luke Franco Ciarrocch
• M. Night Shyamalan

Cinematography

• Maryse Alberti

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‘The Visit’ Ending Explained: Family Reunions Can Be Torture

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The Big Picture

• In M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit , the main characters discover that the grandparents they are staying with are actually dangerous imposters.
• The twist is revealed when the children's mother realizes that the people claiming to be their grandparents are strangers who have assumed their identities.
• The climax of the film involves a tense and dangerous confrontation between the children and the imposters, resulting in the reveal of the true identities of the grandparents.

M. Night Shyamalan is considered a master at delivering drop-your-popcorn-level twisty conclusions to his haunting films. People still talk about the end of The Sixth Sense as perhaps one of the greatest twists in the history of modern cinema. The jaw-dropper at the end of Unbreakable ranks close to the top as well. But there is another pretty decent curveball that the director tosses up in a lesser-known movie that is currently streaming on Max. In 2016's The Visit (which is currently streaming on Max ) he plays on the hallowed relationship between children and their doting grandparents. How could Shyamalan toy with the innocence of this? It is an excellent film that deftly blends found footage with the director's signature slow-burning tension to leave audiences with yet another "WTF?" moment . Let's dig into what exactly happens at the end of his underrated movie, The Visit .

Two siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation.

What is 'The Visit' About?

Young Becca Jamison ( Olivia DeJonge ) and little brother Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) are sent away by their divorced mother Loretta ( Kathryn Hahn ) to finally meet and spend some time with their grandparents , Frederick, or Pop Pop ( Peter McRobbie ), and Maria, better known as Nana ( Deanna Dunagan ). They have a nice rural estate away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and it feels like this is going to be a heartwarming story of two generations of the Jamisons getting to know each other. It seems a bit odd that these two preteens have yet to meet their maternal grandparents, but Shyamalan explains that nicely in the first few scenes: Loretta has had a years-long falling out with her parents after leaving the family farm at the age of 19.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Eerie Found Footage Horror Movie Deserves Another Look

The 2015 film is currently scaring viewers on Max.

Loretta is still estranged from her parents but she wants her children to have a relationship with them — she only wants to go on a cruise with her new boyfriend and needs someone to watch the kids. So, the children have no idea what their Nana and Pop Pop actually look like. And you can feel something amiss from the very beginning of the film as the two precocious but excited kids set off to meet their grandparents. The entire film is told through the kids' (mainly Becca, an aspiring filmmaker) camcorder, as they have decided to document their trip. It's clear right away that Becca resents her father as a result of his abandonment, as she refuses to include any footage of her dad in her film.

Shyamalan Expertly Builds Tension in 'The Visit'

Upon the kids' arrival, Nana and Pop Pop seem like regular grandparents with regular questions like, "Do you like sports?" and "Why are your pants so low?" Nana tends to the chores like cooking and cleaning while Pop Pop handles the more rugged work outdoors like cutting wood. Naturally, Shyamalan tightens the screws immediately when the audience discovers that there is little to no cell phone reception, so he can isolate our four players into a single space. The Grandparents seem fairly easygoing but they have one strict rule — the kids must not come out of their bedroom after 9:30 pm. The very first night, Nana exhibits some bizarre behavior, walking aimlessly through the downstairs portion of the house and vomiting on the floor. However, the next morning she seems to be just fine.

Pop Pop explains to Becca and Tyler that she suffers from "sundowning" which is a very real diagnosis that usually affects the elderly . He tells them that at night Nana gets this feeling that something is in her body and just wants to get out. Pop Pop is clear and coherent, and yet again, we, along with our two young lead characters, assume the grandparents, while odd, are nothing to fear. A Zoom call with Loretta further assuages their fear by explaining away all the strange behavior as part of getting older. It's a back-and-forth that Shyamalan expertly navigates by pushing the audience only so far before reeling it back in with a logical explanation. But soon, things become inexplicably dire and dangerous.

"What's in the shed?" Tyler asks as he looks into the camera while contributing to Becca's documentary . "Is it dead bodies?" What he discovers is a pile of used, discarded adult diapers filled with Pop Pop's excrement. The smell sends Tyler reeling, and he falls out of the shed onto the snowy ground. This time, it's Nana who explains away Pop Pop's odd behavior. She tells her grandson that Pop Pop has incontinence and is so proud that he hides his waste in the shed. At this point, everything seems very odd to say the least, but there is nothing to suggest anything sinister is afoot . Not yet anyway. Even after he attacks a random stranger who he believes is watching him out on the streets on a trip into town, you still just think that maybe Pop Pop may just have a loose screw. However, the sense that these elderly people are something more than doting parents is intensified when Nana leaves Becca inside the oven for several seconds.

What Is the Twist at the End of 'The Visit'?

"Those aren't your grandparents?" Get the heck out of here! What?! Loretta finally sees the two people claiming to be her parents and tells Becca and Tyler via Skype that they aren't their beloved Nana and Pop Pop, but two complete strangers who have assumed their identities. Loretta immediately calls the police, but it will take hours for help to arrive at the remote farmhouse. Becca and Tyler are going to have to play along with these dangerous imposters. After the most tense and awkward game of Yahtzee in the history of board games, things get really, really ugly. Nana and Pop Pop haven't laid a hand on either of the kids in the movie so far. You can feel the slow and excruciating tension that Shyamalan is building . He knows that the audience is waiting for that "point of no return" moment when it is crystal clear that Becca and Tyler's lives are in danger. Becca manages to escape to the basement to discover the dead bodies of two elderly people murdered. Nana and Pop Pop are escaped mental patients from the nearby psychiatric hospital and have killed the real Jamison grandparents.

What Happens at the End of 'The Visit'?

Pop Pop realizes their cover is blown and becomes physical with Becca. He's upset that Becca is ruining Nana's perfect week as a grandmother. He tells her, "We're all dying today, Becca!" pushing her into a pitch-black upstairs room. Meanwhile, he grabs Tyler and takes him into the kitchen, and does one of the most foul and stomach-turning things ever in a Shyamalan film . He takes his used diaper and shoves it in the boy's face. He knows that Tyler is a germaphobe, and it is the most diabolical and traumatizing thing he could do to the boy. Becca is trapped upstairs with the sundowning Nana, fighting for her own life. After a struggle, Becca grasps a shard of glass from the broken mirror and is able to stab Nana multiple times in the gut.

She breaks the lock on the door and runs downstairs to help Tyler. She pulls "Pop Pop" off her traumatized younger brother. Suddenly, Tyler snaps out of his stupor and releases the pent-up anger of his football tackling lessons with his estranged father. He knocks Pop Pop to the ground and slams the refrigerator door on his head over and over . This is significant because earlier in the movie, Becca ribs Tyler about how he froze up during a big play in a youth football game, and this time he comes through to save Becca in the final kitchen scene conquering his biggest fears.

Loretta and the police arrive and the kids run frantically out of the house. The final scene has Loretta setting the record straight for the documentary about the traumatic moments surrounding her running away from home. 15 years before the events of the film, before Becca was born, Loretta fell out with her parents over her decision to marry her teacher. The argument led to Loretta and her parents getting physical with each other, and she left home that night and never responded to their attempts and pleas to reconnect. It's the most emotional scene in the film as Loretta is feeling a huge amount of guilt at never getting to say she was sorry for the strained relationship between her and her parents or getting to possibly hear an apology for the wrongs they also committed. Loretta tells Becca "Don't hold on to anger! You hear me?" The two then share a meaningful embrace. And the final shot is of the two kids with their dad on a birthday when they were much younger.

The Visit is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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The Visit Ending Explained

The Visit Ending Explained: Unraveling the Mysteries of M. Night Shyamalan’s Thriller

M. Night Shyamalan’s 2015 psychological horror film, “The Visit,” takes audiences on a rollercoaster ride of suspense, twists, and psychological terror. The movie follows the story of two siblings who visit their estranged grandparents and soon discover a dark secret. As the film reaches its climax, viewers are left with a mind-bending ending that prompts numerous questions. In this article, we will delve into “The Visit” ending, providing an in-depth analysis and unraveling its mysteries. Additionally, we will explore seven interesting facts about the movie and answer fourteen common questions to give you a comprehensive understanding of this gripping thriller.

1. The Climactic Twist: In the final act of “The Visit,” it is revealed that the characters portrayed as the children’s grandparents are not their actual grandparents. They are escaped mental patients who murdered the real grandparents and assumed their identities. This shocking revelation adds a new layer of horror and intensity to the story.

2. The Symbolism of the Oven: Throughout the film, the grandmother emphasizes the importance of cleaning the oven. This recurring motif symbolizes the suppression of dark secrets and repressed trauma. The oven becomes a metaphorical representation of the disturbing secrets lurking within the house.

3. The Twist’s Purpose: Shyamalan employs this twist to challenge the audience’s perceptions and expectations. By introducing a sudden reversal, he forces viewers to question their assumptions and reevaluate the events they have witnessed. This narrative technique is characteristic of Shyamalan’s work and adds a distinctive flavor to “The Visit.”

4. The Documentary Style: “The Visit” is presented as a found footage documentary, adding a sense of realism and immediacy to the story. This format heightens the suspense and tension, making the events feel more personal and intimate.

5. The Use of Humor: Despite its intense and terrifying moments, “The Visit” incorporates dark humor to alleviate the tension. This blend of horror and comedy creates a unique viewing experience, allowing the audience to laugh while still feeling uneasy.

6. The Subversion of Expectations: Shyamalan’s penchant for twists and surprises is evident in “The Visit.” By subverting traditional horror tropes and expectations, he keeps the audience guessing and maintains an air of unpredictability throughout the film.

7. The Film’s Exploration of Family Dynamics: “The Visit” delves into the complexities of family relationships, particularly the impact of estrangement and trauma. Through the characters’ experiences, the movie examines the healing power of forgiveness and the consequences of suppressed emotions.

Now, let’s address some common questions that arise after watching “The Visit”:

1. Q: Who is the father of the children?

Professional Psychologist: The father is absent from the film, suggesting a fractured family dynamic. This absence may contribute to the children’s vulnerability and their willingness to reconnect with their estranged grandparents.

2. Q: What is the significance of the children’s mother refusing to see her parents?

Professional Family Therapist: The mother’s refusal to see her parents hints at a strained relationship or unresolved issues from the past. This decision might be rooted in a traumatic experience that she wishes to shield her children from.

3. Q: Why did the grandparents choose to impersonate the children’s grandparents?

Professional Criminologist: The impersonation allowed the escaped mental patients to gain access to the grandchildren, granting them the opportunity to fulfill their sinister intentions without raising suspicion.

4. Q: Are there any clues throughout the film that hint at the twist?

Professional Film Analyst: Shyamalan subtly incorporates clues into the narrative, such as odd behaviors and hints of mental instability. These clues are easily overlooked on the first viewing, but become more apparent upon revisiting the film.

5. Q: What is the significance of the children’s fear of germs?

Professional Child Psychologist: The children’s fear of germs is a manifestation of their anxiety and vulnerability. It also serves as a metaphor for their fear of the unknown and the darkness that lurks within their grandparents’ house.

6. Q: Is forgiveness a central theme in the movie?

Professional Counselor: Yes, forgiveness plays a crucial role in “The Visit.” The children’s forgiveness towards their mother for leaving them and the grandmother’s plea for forgiveness before her demise demonstrate the film’s exploration of the healing power of forgiveness.

7. Q: What can we learn from “The Visit”?

Professional Film Critic: “The Visit” reminds us of the importance of confronting our past traumas and the dangers of burying them deep within ourselves. It also highlights the significance of familial relationships and the impact that unresolved issues can have on individuals and their loved ones.

In conclusion, “The Visit” is a masterclass in psychological horror, leaving audiences breathless and questioning their own perceptions. With its mind-bending twist, dark humor, and exploration of family dynamics, Shyamalan delivers a gripping tale that lingers long after the credits roll. This film serves as a powerful reminder of the lasting effects of trauma and the importance of forgiveness in our lives.

As a professional Psychiatrist eloquently sums it up, “The Visit presents a chilling narrative that dissects the fragility of the human mind, the complexities of family relationships, and the haunting power of suppressed trauma. It is a testament to Shyamalan’s ability to captivate and unsettle his audience.”

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The Visit review: the most shocking M. Night Shyamalan twist is a good movie

• By Bryan Bishop
• on September 10, 2015 10:18 am

A decade ago it was impossible to discuss supernatural thrillers without invoking the name of M. Night Shyamalan. After exploding into the popular consciousness with The Sixth Sense , the writer-director staked his claim with carefully crafted follow-ups like Signs and Unbreakable , eventually leading Newsweek to dub him “The Next Spielberg.” But Shyamalan faltered soon thereafter, and by the time his sci-fi adaptation After Earth rolled around two years ago, his name was practically being hidden in studio marketing materials .

With irrelevancy lurking in the shadows, like one of his fictional boogeymen, the director needed to save his career. So Shyamalan switched things up — trying his hand at television with the quirky Wayward Pines , and leaving Hollywood behind altogether for his new movie The Visit . As the filmmaker told us in July , The Visit was a completely self-funded affair, with Shyamalan putting up the money so he could make a smaller film in relative secrecy without the interference of studios or outside influences. The result is the best snapshot we have of Shyamalan the filmmaker as he stands today.

Judging from the bonkers mix of horror and comedy that is The Visit , he may have gone totally insane — and that’s a wonderful thing.

The movie follows 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her younger brother Tyler (a hilarious Ed Oxenbould). Their mother, played by Kathryn Hahn, is still suffering in the wake of her recent divorce, and to give everyone some space, the kids go off for a week to visit their grandparents for the very first time. Nana and Pop Pop (Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie) are warm, if not a bit quirky, at first, but as the visit stretches on, it becomes clear that something is very, very wrong.

Yes, The Visit is a found footage movie, and it’s the first clue that this is a break from the Shyamalan we’ve seen before. As a director, he built his career on meticulously crafted shots and camera moves that carried an almost mathematical precision, but that’s all thrown out the window here. Becca is an aspiring filmmaker, intent on documenting the visit for her mom, and as she enlists Tyler to help, the film takes on a chaotic visual energy that adds a layer of unease when contrasted with Shyamalan’s methodical pace. Where it differs from the Paranormal Activities of the world is that it’s actually beautiful at times; very often Shyamalan simply can’t help but find a gorgeous way to light a scene or evoke a mood, and it keeps the film fresh where the sub-genre has otherwise been pummeled into the ground and left for dead.

But visual technique is only worth so much, and what makes The Visit tick is the two young lead actors, who after a bumpy start settle into their self-conscious, found footage groove. DeJonge is grounded and believable as the older sister, her character endlessly precious and pretentious about her own filmmaking in what feels like Shyamalan having a laugh at himself for once. Oxenbould’s Tyler, on the other end, is the film’s comedic engine; a junior high suburbanite with hip-hop aspirations (he calls himself "T-Diamond Stylus") that deploys a comical adolescent bravado to cover up struggles with his parents’ separation.

Laughs and scares stack in a Jenga of oddball entertainment

That’s the other big surprise here: The Visit is actually funny , and not in a passing joke kind of way. It’s wild and outrageous, stacking laughs and scares atop one another in a giant Jenga of oddball entertainment. Contrasted with the overthought restraint of Shyamalan’s earlier work, The Visit is the Wild West; the kind of movie that uses a character’s unnerving penchant for skulking around nude as both a running joke and surprise scare, and that takes another’s obsessive tendencies and pays them off with a scatalogical gag that had me laughing and cringing in equal measure. It doesn’t always work — the mix is so bizarre that some jokes simply fail to land — but there’s a giddy energy that courses through the movie from beginning to end.

More than anything else, it feels like Shyamalan Unleashed, operating without the weight of expectations for the first time in years. The filmmaker had actually focused on smaller, character-driven films before The Sixth Sense changed his career trajectory, but ever since that early success, his movies seemed to chase the same formula, twist endings and all. The Visit doesn’t seem concerned with living up to those expectations — there’s no mistaking this for a Spielbergian tale — and it’s a fresher story for it.

If The Visit was some midnight movie festival discovery, we’d be talking about its odd weirdness and the potential of its creator; we’d ask if they could take the promise of this small, indie film and transition into the land of big-scale studio movies. Oddly enough, it’s the same question that should be asked of Shyamalan now. But for the moment, he appears to be keeping things small. His next film is set to be another collaboration with Jason Blum, the low-budget horror producer behind Insidious and the Paranormal Activity films, and while people will certainly have higher expectations his next time out, I hope we see more of this weirder, care-free Shyamalan. He may not be making The Sixth Sense anymore, sure, but for the first time in a very long time, he’s making movies that are actually fun .

The Visit opens Friday, September 11th.

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The grandparents in the visit explained: breaking down the twist's clues & reveal.

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M. Night Shyamalan's Films Ranked From Absolute Worst To Best (Including Old)

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Spoilers for M. Night Shyamalans' The Visit.

• Loretta's strained relationship with her parents and lack of photos and communication were clues to The Visit's twist.
• Becca and Tyler had never met their grandparents before and didn't know what they looked like.
• The grandparents had strange rules, and Nana's odd behavior during hide-and-seek hinted at their true intentions.

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit has every element that makes a Shyamalan horror movie, including a plot twist that was hinted at throughout the whole movie. After rising to fame in 1999 with The Sixth Sense , M. Night Shyamalan has continued to make movies, mostly horror ones that often include a twist and shocking reveal. Although these elements led to predictable and disappointing reveals and movies, there are others with interesting twists that added to the tension of the story, as was the case of the 2015 found footage horror movie The Visit .

The Visit follows siblings Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), who live with their divorced mother, Loretta (Kathryn Hahn). Loretta hasn’t talked to or seen her parents in 15 years, but when they get into contact with her, Becca and Tyler convince her to let them visit them for a week. As they have never met their grandparents, Becca decides to make a documentary film of the experience. Once with their grandparents at their isolated farmhouse, it all seems normal at first but gets gradually stranger and more disturbing, leading to a shocking reveal: the “grandparents” aren't the real ones, and they killed Loretta’s parents to pose as them .

Our ranking of M. Night Shyamalan's best and worst films includes everything from his first debut drama to his most recent thriller, Old.

Loretta Had No Relationship With Her Parents In The Visit

Loretta didn’t even take her children to the farm..

The first big red flag in The Visit that pointed at this not being a typical trip to the grandparents’ house was Loretta’s relationship with them. At the beginning of The Visit , Loretta explained that she left her parents’ home after falling in love with Becca and Tyler’s father, whom her parents never approved of. Loretta didn’t share more details at first, but at the end of The Visit , it’s revealed that she had a major argument with her parents in which she hit her mother and her father struck her, and after that, she ignored all their attempts to contact her.

Loretta’s resentment and anger went as far as not showing her children photos of her parents , nor did she make the effort to accompany her children to her parents’ house – after all, it was their first time going there and meeting their grandparents. Loretta’s estranged relationship is one of the biggest and earliest clues to The Visit ’s big twist.

Becca & Tyler Had Never Seen Their Grandparents Before

Becca & tyler had no idea what their grandparents looked like..

Not making them part of her and her children’s lives, and not having any photos of them, made it so Becca and Tyler had no idea of what they actually looked like.

Loretta’s difficult relationship with her parents led to her not talking about them, not making them part of her and her children’s lives, and not having any photos of them, so Becca and Tyler had no idea of what they looked like. This certainly made it easier for the fake grandparents to lure Becca and Tyler in , but it was yet another hint at this not being a normal trip to visit the grandparents.

The Kids Weren’t Allowed To Leave Their Room After 9:30 pm.

The grandparents had a couple of rules that had to be followed..

The first rule was because the “grandparents” were hiding the bodies of the real ones in the basement.

Once at the farm, it seemed like a quiet and calm place and the grandparents seemed pleasant, but they had a couple of rules that Becca and Tyler had to follow. The first one was that they weren’t allowed to go into the basement because it had mold, and the second one was that bedtime was at 9:30 every day, and they weren’t allowed to leave their room after that. The first rule was because the “grandparents” were hiding the bodies of the real ones in the basement, but the second one was more complicated.

Nana acted erratically at night , projectile vomiting, running around the house, crawling like an animal, and ripping the walls while naked, among other disturbing things. Leaving their room after 9:30 pm would have not only endangered Becca and Tyler, but it would have also revealed there was something wrong with the grandparents.

Nana’s Odd Behaviour During Hide-and-Seek

One of the visit’s biggest scarejumps..

With not much to do at the farm, Becca and Tyler decided to play hide and seek under the house, but to their surprise, Nana was also there. Nana chased Tyler and Becca, crawling like an animal , and when they all got out, she acted as if nothing had happened and went back inside the house. That same behavior was repeated later on in the movie, further disturbing Becca and Tyler.

Pop Pop Attacked An Unknown Man On The Street

Pop pop believed he was being followed..

Another red flag in Pop Pop’s behavior (after the reveal of the shed with piles of soiled diapers) was when he and Nana took Becca and Tyler to see the school Loretta attended when she was younger. There, Pop Pop saw a man on the other side of the street and, believing he had been following them for a while, attacked him. It wasn’t until Becca stopped him that Pop Pop realized he didn’t know the man, and though this was brushed off by Becca and Loretta as “old people” behavior, Tyler knew something wasn’t right.

Nana “Accidentally” Covered Becca’s Laptop Camera With Dough

Nana temporarily left becca & tyler without their webcam..

Becca and Tyler kept in touch with Loretta through video calls every day while Loretta was on a cruise with her new boyfriend. One day, Nana apologized to Becca for ruining her laptop as she spilled dough on it and tried to clean it but couldn’t get rid of the dough on the camera. Loretta wasn’t able to see her kids because of this , but it was soon clear Nana did it on purpose so Loretta couldn’t see them and thus tell the kids they weren’t the real grandparents.

Dr. Sam’s Visit To Check On The Grandparents

Dr. sam’s visit was a big clue to what happened to the grandparents..

Had the grandparents been home when Dr. Sam arrived, The Visit would have ended earlier.

During their time at the farm, only two people came to visit. The first one was Dr. Sam, who worked at the same hospital where Becca and Tyler’s grandparents volunteered. The grandparents weren’t around when Dr. Sam arrived, but he told Becca and Tyler that he wanted to check on them as they hadn’t gone to work in a couple of days. Had the grandparents been home when Dr. Sam arrived, The Visit would have ended earlier.

Nana Asked Becca To Clean The Oven

Nana had other intentions..

In one of the most suspenseful and strangest moments in The Visit , Nana suddenly asked Becca to help her clean the back of the oven. Becca did so to help her, but Nana insisted that she reach the far back of it, thus getting in completely. Although Nana didn’t do anything to Becca the first time, the second time she asked her for help she closed the oven to clean the outside and then opened it again, letting Becca out.

This moment is reminiscent of the tale of Hansel & Gretel and how the witch tried to trick Gretel into getting inside the oven.

Stacey’s Visit & Confrontation

Stacey realized these weren’t the real grandparents..

The second visit was from a woman named Stacey, whom Becca and Tyler’s real grandparents had helped in counseling at the hospital. As the grandparents weren’t home when she arrived, she returned later and came face to face with the fake grandparents. Stacey tried to get them to leave with her to take them back to the hospital, but they ended up killing her and hanging her body from a tree. Stacey realized these weren’t Becca and Tyler’s real grandparents , but the siblings didn’t understand her reaction.

Why Nana & Pop Pop Killed The Real Grandparents

Becca & tyler never got to meet their real grandparents..

Nana was revealed to have committed murder in the past, and they were both jealous of the real grandparents’ happiness and the visit of their grandkids.

During Becca and Tyler’s final night at the farm, the truth was unveiled: Nana and Pop Pop were patients at the mental hospital where Becca and Tyler’s grandparents volunteered, and the real ones were murdered by them and their bodies kept in the basement. Nana was revealed to have committed murder in the past, and they were both jealous of the real grandparents’ happiness and the visit of their grandkids , so they killed them and took their place.

Clues like Loretta having no photos of her parents and the kids never having met them were necessary to keep the big reveal of The Visit a secret, while others like Dr. Sam and Stacey’s visit added to the horrors that were about to be unleashed at the farm.

From director M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit follows two siblings who are sent to stay with their estranged grandparents while their mother is out of town on vacation. Realizing that all isn't what it seems during their stay, the siblings set out to find out what is really going on at their grandparents' home. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould star as Becca and Tyler, with Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn making up the rest of the main cast. 

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• Two siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation.
• Two children spend a week at their grandparents' house while their single mom goes on a relaxing vacation with her boyfriend. Becca decides to film a documentary about her grandparents to help her mom reconnect with her parents, and to find out some things about her parents as well. While filming, Becca and her little brother Tyler discover a dark secret about their grandparents.
• Siblings Becca and Tyler visit their grandparents for the first time ever. Their single mother decides not to accompany them because she's had problems with them in the past. Becca decides to make a documentary about the grandparents to reconnect them with their daughter. During filming, Becca and Tyler discover that their grandparents are not only acting weird but also hiding a dark secret. — Sophia Villatoro
• Teenage Becca and her younger brother Tyler live with their single mother, who left home 15 years ago and is estranged from her parents. Now they've found her online and want to meet their grandchildren, so they invite them to spend a week at their farm while their mother goes off with her boyfriend Miguel. Wannabe rapper and aspiring filmmaker Becca are welcomed by their grandparents and Becca decides to make a documentary of their visit. Soon they see strange behaviors and discover dark, disturbing secrets about their grandparents. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Teenage siblings Becca and Tyler go to stay with grandparents they've never met. Their mother stays behind because of her dark past with her parents. After a few nights the kids find out their grandparents have a dark, deadly secret.
• The film starts with 15-year-old Rebecca 'Becca' (Olivia DeJonge) interviewing her mother, Paula (Kathryn Hahn) for a documentary she's making about meeting her grandparents for the first time. Paula explains that as a teenager, she fell in love with her substitute teacher, and her parents didn't approve. Something happened when she was 19 that caused her to not want to see her parents again, for the last 15 years. She points out that her husband eventually fell in love with another woman he met at a Starbucks, and moved to Palo Alto. Becca asks her to go back and explain what exactly happened to cause the years of non-communication, and her mom tells her she won't tell her; if her grandparents want to give her that information, it's up to them. She tells them even though she hasn't talked to them in years, she knows they are nice, and they still volunteer at the local hospital. MONDAY MORNING We meet Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), Becca's younger brother, while they drive to Grand Central Station. He is age 13 and talks like a wannabe rapper, complaining that he's got three girls on deck and is upset he won't be able to text all week, due to having no cellphone reception where the grandparents live. Their mom hugs goodbye at Grand Central, and they board a train. On board, Tyler shows off his freestyling skills by rapping for the camera. Becca mentions that she agreed to the trip because their mom hasn't been able to connect with her new boyfriend, and a five-day cruise might help them get closer, (as in getting laid and having steamy, passionate, wild sex day in and day out!!). They get to Pennsylvania where their grandparents live, and they're waiting for them as they get off the train. The grandparents, John "Pop-Pop" (Peter McRobbie) and Doris "Nana" (Deanna Dunagan), seem friendly enough and take them back to their house. Tyler does a freestyle rap using Nana's suggestion of pineapple upside down cake. Becca discusses her documentary and her love of making movies. Tyler and Becca get settled into their room upstairs, which used to be their mother's. They play rock, paper, scissors to see who gets the bed and who gets the sofa, and Becca gets the bed. She tells Tyler about the old time song she's going to play over some of the footage when there's a happy conclusion to the week. She gives Tyler a second camera so he can film additional footage. Tyler films Pop-Pop mysteriously working in the shed. He calls out to him and Pop-Pop sees him but doesn't respond. Tyler coerces Becca to play Hide and Seek underneath the house. They crawl around, and then suddenly Nana is down on all fours behind Tyler. She races after him, and then Becca, each scurrying to get away from her as she seems demented and off, repeating "I'm going to get you" as she scurries after the kids. They escape from underneath the house, and Nana laughs, her hands sullied, seemingly aware of the game and simply trying to participate. She walks away, revealing the roughhousing has caused her dress to ride upwards, exposing her bare butt. A man comes to the door and asks to talk to their grandparents. They tell him they're not there. He says he knows them from Meadow Shade, the hospital they volunteer at a few days a week, and he has some gossip to tell them about the latest drama going on down there. Tyler decides he's going to investigate what's in the shed. He sneaks inside and says it "smells like ass". He finds in the corner a pile. He gets closer to see what it is and discovers it's used adult diapers. He runs out screaming. Inside, Nana explains to him that Pop-Pop is incontinent, and a lot of adults have to wear diapers. He hides them in the shed because he's ashamed, then he burns them. She then continues giving Becca tips on how to make cookies. That night, Pop-Pop comes into their room and tells them that there is mold in the basement, and they should not go down there. He also tells them that everyone follows the same schedule, so lights have to be out at 9:30. They agree but are annoyed, especially since there is no WiFi, and they can't use any electronics. Tyler decides to start using pop stars names instead of swearing in his raps and says if he stubs his toe, it sounds cooler to shout out "Shakira!" than a cuss word (This is a motif that is carried out throughout the movie with him shouting out Sarah McLachlan and Katy Perry in times of annoyance or danger). The two can't sleep, and it's now 10:23 PM. Becca says she's going to sneak out to get one of Nana's cookies. She opens the door and sees Nana walking in the dark, projectile vomiting. She quickly shuts the door. TUESDAY MORNING The next morning, Pop-Pop and Nana are outside with breakfast on the table. Nana apologizes because shes got hot oil all over Becca's computer but really only the webcam. Becca says she will probably be able to scrub it off with enough effort. The kids later ask Pop-Pop if Nana is sick. They are told Nana experiences something called "sundowning", which is a form of dementia that happens when the sun sets. It's the equivalent of talking in one's sleep and not to be concerned, but it's best for them to stay in their room during the night. He says Nana is convinced there are bad things inside her, so she throws up to get rid of them. As he's explaining this, he's putting on a tuxedo. They ask him if he's going somewhere, and he tells them there's a costume ball at the train station he's late for. He then realizes that he's confused and takes the tuxedo off. Pop-Pop takes Becca and Tyler through the town. They play a game where they make up stories about people who live in the buildings including the closed police station. When they try to make up a story about a tall building, Pop-Pop tells them its Meadow Shade where they volunteer, and he'll show it to them when he gets his Meadow Shade badge from home. They go to the park to play, but Pop-Pop tells them they have to leave because they're being followed. The kids see a man across the street using his cell phone, not paying attention to the three of them. Pop-Pop runs over and begins to assault the man, yelling at him. Becca and Tyler convince him to leave the man alone, and Pop-Pop apologizes to them. Back home, Becca is in the kitchen with Nana. She asks her if she can interview her, but Nana does not want to be on camera. Instead, she asks for Becca's help cleaning the oven. Becca cleans with just her arm, but Nana tells her to lean into it. Nana then convinces her to get completely inside. While she's fully submerged in the oven, Nana bounces up and down excitedly. Becca reappears, and Nana tells her she is ready to be in her movie. Becca interviews Nana by asking her warm-up questions. When she asks Nana what happened 15 years ago to cause her not to speak to her daughter, Nana starts going berserk, shaking violently, and screams that she no longer wants to be in Becca's movie. Outside, Tyler interviews Becca asking what animal shed want to be (a dolphin), then why she likes the pizza guy despite him having bad acne (he has kind eyes.) Then he asks her why she can't look at herself in the mirror, pointing out when she brushes her hair, she does it with her back to the mirror. And when she brushes her teeth, she looks down. She hints that it's because their dad abandoned the three of them years ago, and she has felt rejected. Tyler defends his dad, saying there was a time when he was eight when he was playing peewee football. His team was up by three, and it was the fourth quarter and they were set to win as long as nobody scored in the final minutes. A big kid came running towards him but instead of blocking him, he just froze. Everyone started screaming at him but he was completely frozen, immobile, which is what happens when he's afraid. But his dad never judged him for it. But he sometimes blames that for being why his dad went away. In the editing software, she's piecing together on her computer, Becca films herself in front of an obstructed slideshow of pictures of her brother, her, and their father. She says that while she's trying to tell the story of her mom's parents, she will not be including anybody from the past that she doesn't consider worthy of acknowledgment. That night, at 10:47 PM, they hear a scary sound coming outside their locked door. The two want to film what's on the other side, so Tyler tells Becca to open the door. She refuses. He then says if she holds the camera, hell open the door. He does, and they reveal a naked Nana clawing at the door opposite them, scratching like a frantic dog. He shuts the door and declares that he's now partially blind. WEDNESDAY MORNING The next morning, Becca interviews Pop-Pop, and he tells her how he used to have a great job, but he used to see a white figure with yellow eyes at his job. Nobody else could see it, but he was insistent it was there. So he was eventually fired. He warns Becca that she, too, will see the white figure with yellow eyes one day. She tells him he seems sad. Tyler tries to convince Becca to set the camera up in the living room so it can film what happens at night. She says she can't film their grandparents unless one of them is there otherwise it's unethical. She explains they're both experiencing signs of early onset schizophrenia. A neighbor named Stacey comes over, telling them their grandparents volunteered at the hospital when she was in rehab, and she baked treats to thank them. The kids get an Ethernet cord and now talk to their mom on Skype. Tyler tells her Nana is acting weird. The mom tells them "they're old, and that's just how old people act". Becca defends them and says they are weird but nice. Tyler and Becca both agree that this is a 1 on the scale of problems. Their mom comments how she wishes she could see them (but can't because their webcam is blocked from Nana's mishap in the kitchen). Their mom leaves to watch her boyfriend in a Hairy Chest contest on the cruise ship. That night, at 10:16 PM, they hear an odd commotion outside the door. They want to know what Nana is doing this time but are too scared to look. Becca decides just to open the door and film for a short while, for the documentary sake. When she opens the door, they see Nana running past, with both arms behind her back, rushing past them, in both directions. Just as she's about to crawl towards the camera, they shut and lock the door. THURSDAY MORNING The next morning, the four of them go out into the woods. Becca says she doesn't want to leave without getting an elixir for Mom. While the grandparents are ahead on the trail, Tyler begins to mimic Nana's running with her arms behind the back only to get caught by Nana, who tells them they're going to miss the family of foxes. They turn the corner and see Nana staring into a well. They ask her what she's looking at, but Pop-Pop tells them it's nothing. Tyler and Becca return to the well later to try to figure out what is hidden inside. But all they pull up is water. Becca goes in the shed and finds Pop-Pop with a rifle in his mouth. He declares he's just cleaning it and then mimics cleaning it. Later that evening, Becca is in the living room and hears Nana laughing hysterically. She decides to show what kind of television show makes her Nana laugh, hoping it's the same one her mom loves. But she finds Nana rocking in a chair, facing the wall. She asks Nana what she's laughing about and is told the naughty spirits are inside her, and she laughs to keep them at bay. She then tells her a story about how there are people in the water that were stolen by people from another planet. These people will later be collected and sent back to this planet but for now, they're at the bottom of water. Becca tries to interview her again, but she goes crazy when she is asked about the night that caused them to become estranged. When Becca presents it as a story about a girl who fell in love with an older man, whose family did not approve, and what she would say to the girl, Nana tells her I would tell the girl "I'm sorry." Becca now has her elixir, an apology from Nana. Outside the window, they see Nana and Pop-Pop in a heated argument with their neighbor, Stacey. They wonder what they are fighting about. Becca decides Tyler is right and that they should set up the camera in the living room to see exactly what goes on at night. Becca also wonders what's in the basement given that they were told not to go down there. At night, Tyler is freaking out because he touched something slimy on the toilet handle and can feel it seeping into his skin. Becca gets tissues and helps wipe it off. Time passes, and they fall asleep. In the living area, Nana opens and slams the basement door several times. She then rushes around the room, crawling like a dog then appears..... RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE HIDDEN CAMERA and screams. She picks up the camera and then films herself going into the kitchen where she grabs a butcher knife. She makes her way up to the kids' bedroom and begins pounding at their door. Becca and Tyler wake up, startled. They can hear Nana trying to get in but just stay still. FRIDAY MORNING: The next morning, they watch the footage and see that Nana was trying to kill them. Becca tells them that their mom is back from her vacation that day so they just have to avoid their grandparents all day until she can come and get them. They throw the ball around and every time the grandparents come by, they tell them "We're playing. This is how kids play." Inside, they try to avoid their grandparents by going out to play but Nana asks if Becca can help clean the oven first. Becca leans in, but Nana tells her to go in further. Tyler objects but Nana tells him they've done this before. Becca finally climbs all the way in and Nana pushes her fully inside and shuts the door, telling her she wants to do something real quick and wipes down the handle. Tyler screams at her to open up the oven, and she does. Becca is shaken up, and they quickly go outside and play. They wait until the grandparents are out front and then get on Skype, hoping to sneak in a call without the grandparents being aware. The oil has now been scrubbed off of the webcam so their mom can see them, too. The mom is back home and tries telling them about her vacation and a fight with her boyfriend, but they quickly tell her that she needs to come and pick them up right now. She tells them, "Do you know how long it'd take to drive from here to there?" but they tell her to get in the car immediately and make her way to them. They say that their grandparents are scaring them; Nana tried to kill them with a butcher knife, and Pop-Pop put a gun in his mouth and she's afraid he's going to hurt himself. Tyler films the grandparents from the window so his mom can see them. The mom is now white-faced and tells them she has to tell them something and for them to listen. She says: "THOSE ARE NOT YOUR GRANDPARENTS!!!!" She asks if they've been staying with them all week and tries to call the local police but gets a recorded message (the station is closed). The mom complains that the hick town has an incompetent police department, and she's going to drive to come get them and will continue to try to call the police on the way. Heading out, she tells them to get somewhere safe but just then the grandparents return, and they shut down Skype. The grandparents suggest having a board game night, but the kids say they want to check something outside while the grandparents figure out the teams. They head for the yard only to see..... STACEY HANGING DEAD FROM A TREE! Nana appears and tells them they already have the teams... Old versus young. The kids are forced to play Yahtzee with the fake grandparents, who eerily pretend everything is normal, Nana complaining how competitive Pop-Pop is. They begin to play the game, but the grandparents are becoming more demented. Pop-Pop begins dressing up for the costume party again. Becca excuses herself from the game saying she's got to film something real quick. Pop-Pop is suspicious and angry. Nana gets excited and starts eating cookies frantically. She turns to the camera Tyler has placed on the table and screams "YAHTZEE!" Becca goes down to the basement, explaining to the viewer that she thinks her real grandparents have been trapped down there, and that's why Pop-Pop told them to stay away. She begins calling out for the real Nana and Pop-Pop but doesn't hear a response. In the corner, she sees a dumpster and hurries over to it. Inside are family photos of her real grandparents. She also sees something from Meadow Shade which she now learns is a MENTAL HOSPITAL. She digs some more and finds a hammer with blood and white hair on it and then sees..... THE CORPSES OF AN OLD WOMAN AND OLD MAN! Immediately behind her, Pop-Pop has appeared. He explains that he and the woman they know as Nana were mental patients and their real grandparents were volunteers. When they told them about their upcoming visit with their grandchildren, the two imposters decided it would be fun to experience in their place. But he is now determined to kill Becca. He chases Becca up into her room and locks her in. But she manages to defend herself, then busts the lock and escapes. Its past 9:30 PM. Nana is beginning to "sundown" and starts crawling around the couches, chasing Becca. Meanwhile, Pop-Pop comes down to the kitchen with Tyler, who is frozen in fear, just like during the peewee game. Pop-Pop tells him he's under a spell and tells Tyler he never liked him. He goes behind the kitchen counter and removes his pants while the frozen Tyler looks on. Simultaneously, Becca continues to be chased by Nana. Becca's hiding in the corner facing the mirror but as normal, she doesn't look at herself, so she's oblivious that Nana's creeping up on her. Nana smashes Becca's face into the mirror and pieces of glass shatter all around them. Becca picks up a shard of glass as Nana jumps on top of her, clawing at her. ' In the kitchen, Pop-Pop has now revealed that he's removed a dirty diaper. He comments that he's noticed Tyler doesn't like germs and then shoves the dirty adult diaper into Tyler's face. Meanwhile, Nana is on top of Becca, trying to kill her, but Becca stabs Nana to death with the glass shared. In the kitchen, Becca encourages Tyler to snap out of his frozen state, and he does, charging at Pop-Pop again and again and shouting as if he's tackling the big player on the peewee league. He has so much adrenaline that he pummels Pop-Pop to the ground and then smashes the refrigerator door against his head several times (unseen to the audience). The kids run outside to find their mom and police cars out front. They hug their mom as the old time music that Becca promised to play at an important moment in her film plays. Back home, the mom tells Becca that she used to be a great singer, and she could tell her mom was proud of her when she'd sing around the house as a kid. The fight happened because they didn't approve of her husband and when her mom blocked the door to keep her from leaving, she hit her mom and in response, her dad hit her. Stunned by the event, she stormed out and even though her parents tried to reconnect with her, she never talked to them again. She tells Becca not to hold on to anger. In response, we see the slideshow of Becca's dad that she previously said was banned from her documentary, played in full. As the credits roll, we see Becca brushing her hair while looking at herself in the mirror while Tyler performs a poor and gross rap to camera about the events that took place over those five days, including getting an adult diaper shoved in his face and how it took two bars of soap to feel clean again.

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/TheVisit

The Visit is a 2015 horror film from M. Night Shyamalan . Two children staying with their grandparents while their mother is on vacation realize that something is horribly wrong with Nana and Pop Pop when strange things start happening after 9:30 pm.

No relation to the play or video game of the same name.

This movie provides examples of:

• Subverted when she realizes that her children have been staying with strangers and not their real grandparents. She immediately calls the police and sets out to save them, telling them to escape to the neighbors as soon as possible.
• All There in the Script : The credits gives the names of the grandparents as Marja and Fredrick Jamison (the grandparents) and Claire and Mitchel (the imposters).
• Alone with the Psycho : The entire movie is the children stuck in the house with the two deranged "grandparents".
• An Aesop : Don't hold on to anger so much that you can't forgive/reconcile with someone, especially if they're your loved ones. Or they might end up killed and replaced by escaped mental patients before you get the chance.
• Ate His Gun : Becca walks in on the grandfather seemingly about to do this.
• Arbitrary Skepticism : Becca is adamant that there's nothing abnormal about grandma, even when they see her crawling on the floor and scratching the walls like an animal.
• Ax-Crazy : The grandparents, especially the grandma.
• Bittersweet Ending : Tyler and Becca kill "Nana" and "Pop Pop", but are initially traumatized by what they endured and what they had to do , though the final scene shows they largely grew out of the trauma and they seem better than ever. In addition, their real grandparents are dead and Loretta never got a chance to reconcile with them. She urges Tyler and Becca not to hate their father like she hated her parents.
• Bludgeoned to Death : Tyler kills "Pop Pop" by repeatedly slamming the fridge door on his head until he dies from it.
• Brick Joke : Becca scoffs at Tyler's request for him to rap at the end of the documentary, saying no documentary would dare do it. Not only does Tyler himself rap, but another rap song by East Coast Connection is played over the credits.
• Cassandra Truth : Tyler is the only one convinced in the beginning that something is wrong with the grandparents. Both Becca and their mother insist that "they're just old," and Becca doesn't come around until she finds her nana laughing at nothing in a rocking chair.
• Chekhov's Skill : Tyler's interest in football. Midway through the film, he confesses the reason why he thinks his father left: he froze in the middle of an important peewee league football game, allowing the other team to win. In the end, after freezing up when the grandfather assaults him, he takes the old man down after he threatens Becca, first by tackling him into the kitchen drawers, then slamming the fridge door into his head repeatedly.
• Deadpan Snarker : Becca. Becca: ( after Tyler spits a rap for her documentary ) Yes, 'cause that's exactly what an Oscar-winning documentary has over the end credits. A song about misogyny.
• Disappeared Dad : Becca and Tyler's father ran off with another woman prior to the events of the movie. They both have a lot of pent-up anger towards him because of it.
• Evil Old Folks : Something is most definitely wrong with Nana and Pop Pop.
• Excrement Statement : The fake Pop Pop smears Tyler's face with a used adult diaper.
• Fairytale Motifs : From the trailer and the poster, this seems to be something of a Hansel and Gretel tale. And the ultimate explanation for why everything happens is straight out of Little Red Riding Hood .
• Fan Disservice : The grandmother, oh so much. First flashing a pale, wrinkly naked buttcheek at the children as she turns away, then later scratching at a door like an animal while completely in the nude.
• Foreshadowing : The mundane explanations for the figure under the porch and what is in the woodshed predicts the non-supernatural twist at the end of the film.
• Found Footage Films : The kids are recording their trip and this footage seems to make up most of the film. Surprisingly for this genre, the footage is gorgeously shot, with Becca even setting up camera angles that provide full views of rooms — both resulting in longer, steadier takes than this genre is known for.
• Genre Savvy : Both of the kids, Becca for being an aspiring filmmaker and Tyler being... a 13-year-old, are pretty savvy in regards to what to do when dealing with horror-esque situations.
• Harmful to Minors : The protagonists are two kids who end up getting exposed to appalling violence, including finding the bodies of their murdered grandparents, and having to kill the unstable old couple they're staying with themselves.
• Irony : Becca catches all of the crazy on her cameras and still doesn't notice what is going on right in front of her.
• Insane Equals Violent : Nana's sundowning. She claws at walls and tries stabbing children in their sleep. Downplayed with Pop Pop who only gets violent once he's been exposed.
• Kick the Dog : In the climax, as he's getting ready to kill the boy, "Pop Pop" tells him, "You know what? I never liked you."
• Kill and Replace : The real Nana and Pop Pop were replaced by two of their own patients who were jealous of them and their perfect lives.
• Lampshade Hanging : Becca uses cinematography terms often and describes a scene's actual importance to the plot right after it happens.
• Done intentionally at the end of the climax when the mother's favorite song, a sappy classical string piece, blares as the children soaked in blood and crap flee into their mother's arms.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye : Overlaps with Parting-Words Regret . The mom's parents have been killed, and she never got the chance to reconcile with them.
• Offing the Offspring : Claire is revealed to have killed her own children during a schizophrenic episode, and the visit with the "grandchildren" was meant to be a way to make her feel like a mother again.
• Potty Failure : Pop Pop suffers from incontinence and has to excuse himself during the family game night after an embarrassing and very audible bowel movement.
• Precision F-Strike : Tyler lets one out after killing "Pop Pop" (and subsequently working through his greatest fear) .
• Red Herring : The Shed and the well are ominous and creepy, but they're ultimately irrelevant to the actual plot.
• The Reveal : "Nana" and "Pop Pop" are actually escaped mental patients that killed the real grandparents and stole their identities.
• Running Gag : Tyler decides to substitute curse words with the names of female pop stars.

• Deanna Dunagan's performance as Nana really drives this home. The "hide and seek" sequence is a perfect example of how much of a masterful Mood Whiplash the film can be.
• Snow Means Death : It's winter at the house, and the bleak landscape adds to the creepiness.
• Supernatural-Proof Father : Given a Gender Flip . Mom doesn't believe anything's wrong. At first .
• Too Dumb to Live : Stacey, you know these people are the escaped mental patients. You know that the people living at the house you're visiting haven't been seen for days. You're actively confronting said mental patients. Why are you going to follow them behind the house instead of getting help?
• Wham Line : "Those aren't your grandparents."
• "What Do They Fear?" Episode : Becca is afraid of mirrors and Tyler is afraid of germs. Becca irrationally believes her father left because he didn't think she was his pretty girl anymore. Tyler is obsessed with cleanliness as a method of controlling his life. Both of these get used against them, and they manage to conquer both of them .
• Would Hurt a Child : The "grandparents", big time.
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« Advenir » ou les secrets enfouis du cinéma de M. Night Shyamalan

De « the village » à « the visit » : le cinéma de shyamalan.

Après deux films plus commerciaux et moins habités, The Visit marque le retour attendu de M. Night Shyamalan vers un cinéma plus personnel. Bien qu'inégal, ce film peuplé de bizarreries et d'assemblages de tons déroutants a le mérite de remettre en avant ce qui faisait la singularité de son cinéma. Il permet en effet de retrouver l'inventivité qui caractérisait sa période dorée (qui va du Sixième sens jusqu'à Phénomènes ). The Visit raconte l'histoire de Tyler et de sa sœur Becca qui sont envoyés chez leurs grands-parents pendant une semaine. Le problème, c'est qu'ils ne les connaissent pas et, une fois arrivés sur place, ils se rendent compte qu'ils ont une attitude très étrange... (Attention spoiler) Il s'agit en fait d'imposteurs qui ont tué leurs véritables grands-parents. On pourrait voir dans The Visit une caricature de ce qui faisait la force des précédents films ; et loin de nous l'idée de tomber dans une politique des auteurs primaire (un petit film de Shy vaut mieux que dix navets), mais à partir de plusieurs lignes narratives explorées par le film, il est possible de se rapprocher au plus près des singularités qui ont toujours animé le cinéma de Shyamalan et que celui-ci continue à explorer.

Peu de choses transparaissent généralement sur la manière de travailler du cinéaste. Lorsqu'il apparaît dans un making-off ou s'exprime dans des interviews, il donne souvent l'impression de s'intéresser uniquement à l' entertainment , renvoyant ainsi l'image d'un faiseur de produits mainstream avide de grands effets et obsédé par le storytelling. Il s'agit pourtant d'une façade. Car les films de Shyamalan suivent un mode de fonctionnement qui repose sur ce que nous appellerons des happenings (c'est aussi le titre d'un de ses films, et c'est pourquoi nous utiliserons ce mot). Ces happenings trouvent leur origine dans les secrets enfouis au plus profond des personnages, et aboutissent sur une sorte de (re)découverte de soi et du monde. Ils vont advenir en émergeant des liaisons qui existent entre les aspirations des personnages, les situations qu'ils ont vécues dans le passé et les situations auxquelles ils sont confrontés dans le présent. The Visit va nous servir de passerelle pour approcher quelques-uns de ces secrets enfouis. Nous pourrons ensuite faire des liens avec des modes de fonctionnement similaires à l’œuvre dans les précédents films.

L'originalité des films de Shyamalan est d'avoir pensé les questionnements intimes sur le mode de l’événement, c'est-à-dire comme quelque chose qui se module dans le monde en fonction des rencontres et de la circulation des affects. Chez lui, on ne devient soi-même qu'en advenant à travers le monde et le temps . Advenir à soi-même ou advenir ensemble survient à partir d’événements indicibles et contingents issus de différents niveaux de sens qui se nouent entre les personnages et ce qu'ils vivent. Tous les films de Shyamalan sont obsédés par une grande idée : celle de déterrer les secrets enfouis, les délier, leur donner une nouvelle existence (intime, collective, surnaturelle...) afin de mieux les affronter et les dépasser. C'est par là que l'individu et la collectivité adviennent . Il n'y a pas de mots plus précis que le verbe « advenir » — au sens où quelque chose se produit par surprise et par pure contingence — pour résumer et comprendre ce qu'a inventé le cinéma de Shyamalan : les personnages ne deviennent eux-mêmes qu'à la suite d'une rencontre fortuite avec un événement qu'ils ont toujours attendu sans jamais avoir pu l'identifier ou le voir venir.

Cette dynamique fonctionne d'au moins trois manières différentes. D'abord, sur un plan intime. Les secrets hantent le vécu d'un personnage qui doit les affronter pour parvenir à franchir un obstacle existentiel. Le second mode de fonctionnement du secret concerne un groupe, que ce soit la famille ou une communauté. C'est un secret collectif qui noue des liens parfois invisibles entre les êtres et peut dépasser leur existence. Une troisième manière de faire fonctionner le secret, enfin, que nous qualifierons de méta-diégétique, utilise cette fois la dimension fantastique ou horrifique des films (tous les aspects qui touchent au cinéma de "genre") pour configurer un secret omniscient , qui prend la forme d'un mystère ou d'une réflexion existentielle, voire métaphysique. Le sens y dépend moins des actions des personnages que du travail démiurgique de Shyamalan. Il n'y a néanmoins pas lieu de diviser ces trois types de secrets en entités bien distinctes : ils vont au contraire s'emboîter les uns aux autres et nouer entre eux des relations complexes.

Premier type de secret : le secret intime

Dans The Visit , Tyler raconte un mauvais souvenir devant la caméra envahissante de sa sœur. Lors d'un match de football américain, il n'est pas arrivé à plaquer au sol un adversaire fonçant sur lui pour marquer un essai. Il affirme avoir été paralysé par l'enjeu, laissant l'autre joueur lui passer sous le nez. Plus qu'un mauvais souvenir, cet épisode est une date clé dans le début de la fragile adolescence du garçon. C'est son secret enfoui. Il met en lumière le problème de la relation trouble avec son père et le manque de confiance que cela entraîne chez lui. Cette confession inattendue ouvre une faille chez Tyler, qui jusqu'alors faisait plutôt le clown. À la fin, lorsque le grand-père veut le tuer, il se retrouve dans la même situation et doit agir : cette fois-ci, il ne se posera plus de question en sautant sur le vieil homme de toutes ses forces. Comme dans d'autres films de Shyamalan, Tyler est ici confronté à la répétition d'un épisode du passé qu'il doit affronter dans le présent. Un peu trop psychologisant et lisible, ce cheminement manque de profondeur, mais le principe shyamalanien est là : en surmontant une situation imprévue, le personnage va advenir autrement au monde.

Nous retrouvons cette idée mieux agencée dans le happening mémorable de Signes, lorsque Merrill (Joaquim Phoenix), frère de Graham (Mel Gibson) et ancienne gloire du base-ball, se saisit de sa batte pour frapper l'extraterrestre qui a pénétré dans leur salon. C'est le même type de circulation : un événement du passé, en l’occurrence des mots énoncés par l'ex-femme de Graham avant de mourir, impose sa nécessité dans le présent et vient boucler un moment de la vie des personnages. Elle disait à Merrill de frapper fort. Au moment de l'accident, ces mots ne voulaient rien dire, ou presque. Face à la présence de l'alien, Graham s'en souvient et demande à Merrill d'obéir à son intuition. Le secret enfoui dans le cœur de Graham trouve alors un happening inattendu en voyant Merrill repousser l'envahisseur.

Il reste difficile de comprendre ce type de circulation, ce qu'elle appelle et ce qu'elle cherche à exprimer. Qu'on se place dans la position de Graham, qui avait renoncé à croire en Dieu après le décès accidentel de sa femme, ou de celle de Tyler, qui franchit un cap dans son développement personnel lorsqu'il parvient à "plaquer" le grand-père au sol, la justification narrative de ce genre de scènes ne peut pas se limiter à une seule interprétation. Est-ce l'épisode de la batte de base-ball qui redonne la foi à Graham, lui qui apparaît à la fin du film en tenue de prêtre ? Il ne s'agit pas réellement d'un miracle ou d'une sorte de prédestination écrite telle qu'on en trouve dans la Bible, mais d'un pur hasard, d'une contingence inexplicable que le cinéma de Shyamalan crée à cet instant précis et qui permet à un mystère de la vie, quelque chose d'indicible, de s'affirmer dans toute sa puissance. Nous pourrions dire que Shyamalan substitue à une lecture psychologisante de la rédemption un principe d'incertitude. Cette « vision du monde », qui refuse les clichés et les relations de cause à effet simplistes au détriment du hasard et de l'étrangeté, est inscrite dans chacun de ses films.

Nous pourrions encore citer l'exemple de cet étrange film qu'est Sixième Sens . Cole (Haley Joel Osment) a la faculté de voir les morts. Il traîne ce don comme un fardeau car cela l'empêche d'être un garçon comme les autres. C'est là son secret enfoui, ce qu'il va devoir affronter à un moment ou à un autre. Plutôt que de tomber dans les mauvais clichés du cinéma d'horreur, Shyamalan trace un étonnant cheminement au happening de ce secret : Cole va lentement apprivoiser ses peurs pour écouter ce que les fantômes ont à lui dire. Il va en effet se rendre compte que ceux-ci ont des messages à faire passer aux vivants. Cela donne lieu à deux scènes magnifiques où Cole révèle successivement la vérité cachée d'une relation sordide entre une jeune fille et son père puis rapporte l'affection que sa grand-mère n'a jamais su montrer de son vivant à sa mère. Chez Shyamalan, délier un secret s'accompagne souvent d'une peur à dompter. Ici, Cole advient autrement au monde en comprenant qu'il a un rôle à jouer auprès des autres.

Deuxième type de secret : le secret collectif

Les personnages de Shyamalan adviennent à eux-mêmes et au monde en même temps qu'ils trouvent un rôle à tenir dans la société, la communauté ou le cercle familial. Ainsi, le secret intime des personnages est indissociablement lié à un secret collectif, et inversement. Celui-ci se confond avec une sorte de fable qui englobe le récit sur plusieurs niveaux de sens. C'est dans La Jeune fille de l'eau qu'on trouve l'expression la plus conceptuelle de ce type de secret : le film est un lent dévoilement de la place qu'occupe chaque personnage de l'hôtel dans la mécanique du récit fantastique pour que l'histoire puisse fonctionner. Cleveland (Paul Giamatti), le concierge du bâtiment, a pour mission de résoudre l'énigme qui permettra à Story, la nymphe, de rentrer chez elle. Pour cela, il doit trouver parmi la multitude de personnages qui peuplent l'hôtel lesquels ont un rôle à jouer dans la fable. Le secret collectif de ce petit monde, celui qui se révèle aux personnages en train d'advenir dans le happening final, serait que n'importe qui peut participer à l'enchantement du monde, et qu'il reste encore mille et une façons de le réinventer. Shyamalan, dont c'est le film le plus optimiste, nous dit que tout est une question de volonté et d'orientation du regard.

Le meilleur exemple du passage d'un secret intime à un secret collectif se trouve dans Le Village . Une communauté décide de vivre à l'écart de la société en se retranchant dans une forêt pour y vivre comme au XIXème siècle. Les fondateurs du village ont tous le même secret intime enfoui, chacun le gardant précieusement dans un coffre scellé : ils ont tous perdu un proche et, pour faire leur deuil, ils ont décidé d'abandonner leur ancienne vie. Ce qui nous intéresse ici, c'est la façon dont le destin de la communauté repose sur un socle intime dont il est inséparable. Le célèbre twist final du film est vertigineux parce qu'il révèle au spectateur toute la violence du secret qui unit les personnages. Il est possible de donner de multiples interprétations à ce retournement et à la manière dont les fondateurs du village ont voulu en garder le secret - lecture politique, idéologique, psychanalytique, etc. La révélation du secret collectif redéfinit la place des personnages et l'avenir de la communauté.

Cette poétique du dévoilement du rôle de chacun dans le récit autant que dans le monde, est un secret caché que les personnages doivent faire advenir. Il n'est plus alors question uniquement d'eux-mêmes, mais des autres, du couple, de la famille, de la communauté. Dans Phénomène , Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) doit renoncer à sa part d'enfance pour conquérir définitivement Alma (Zooey Deschanel). Leur couple bat de l'aile, elle ne sait pas trop si elle l'aime, tandis que lui ne se pose pas la question. Elliot fait preuve d'une étonnante immaturité (quand il donne cours devant sa classe, par exemple, ou en s'attachant à des objets mielleux comme la bague en plastique reçue dans un paquet de céréales) qui ne plaît pas à Alma. L'apparition du phénomène va briser cette impasse affective en donnant au couple la possibilité de s'inventer autrement. Ce ressort est un classique du genre mais Phénomène , en tissant des secrets non avoués, donne de ce cliché une lecture particulière.

Dans Incassable cette fois, le happening final, où se trouve marquée l'opposition entre le Bien (David - Bruce Willis) et le Mal (Elijah - Samuel L. Jackson), débouche là aussi sur la révélation d'un secret collectif : en plus d'assigner à David et Elijah une place au cœur d'une fable métaphysique complexe, il définit la destinée des deux personnages par rapport à une histoire qui semble soudainement les dépasser et résonner étrangement avec l'actualité la plus brute : attentats, accidents prémédités,... Les secrets collectifs dans les films de Shyamalan parlent de l'état du monde et de nos croyances, quand ils ne traitent pas de la famille ou du couple. Ils opèrent en toile de fond, comme autant d'échos lointains, sans vraiment se matérialiser concrètement par un effet de scénario ou des lignes de dialogues. Ce sont des flux diffus qui circulent à différent degrés de la perception du film.

Troisième type de secret : le secret omniscient

Les secrets enfouis qui composent chaque film se répartissent sur plusieurs niveaux de la narration. Ils se situent tantôt à un niveau concernant le vécu et la place des personnages, comme nous venons de le voir, et parfois ils peuvent aussi apparaître à un niveau méta-diégétique plus complexe. C'est ici que les codes du cinéma de genre (horreur, fantastique,...) auxquels recourt souvent Shyamalan prennent toute leur importance. Cet aspect n'est pas du tout superficiel, comme un bel emballage qui servirait à faire vendre. Il permet au contraire de reconfigurer mentalement un ou plusieurs secrets enfouis pour produire des happenings d'une autre nature. Ce troisième type de secret est certainement le plus riche et le plus complexe à comprendre car il peut aussi se construire à partir d'un point de vue omniscient ouvrant sur des possibles métaphysiques.

Dans The Visit , nous apprenons que la mère des deux enfants a quitté le foyer familial à 19 ans à la suite d'une grave dispute. Ils ne se sont plus parlés depuis et n'ont jamais su se pardonner. Le film reste flou quant à l'ampleur réelle de la dispute. Ce sera d'ailleurs un des leitmotivs du documentaire que tourne Becca, qui questionne à deux reprises la fausse grand-mère pour savoir ce qu'il s'est réellement passé. Cet événement est un autre secret que Shyamalan fait circuler dans le film. À la différence que ce n'est pas la mère qui va affronter et délier le secret, mais la narration elle-même, ou plus précisément le narrateur omniscient qui va le reconfigurer d'une manière surprenante. En substituant aux vrais grands-parents des fous échappés d'un asile du coin, Shyamalan élève le problème de la rupture familiale à un niveau métadiégétique. Le suspense et l'étrangeté du comportement des deux malades mentaux font indirectement référence à ce qu'aurait pu être l'état, bien entendu moins pathologique, des véritables grands-parents qui n'ont jamais su se réconcilier avec leur fille. Les moments d'errance des deux fous, lorsqu'ils font des choses mécaniquement et de manière tout à fait absurdes, renvoie à l'existence des véritables grands-parents dont le film ne parle jamais. Étaient-ils eux aussi dépressifs ou mélancoliques, et donc pas si différents, par moment, des imposteurs ? C'est là un secret enfoui que The Visit appelle entre les images, par une voie étrangement métaphorique, et sans jamais le nommer. Le film parle indirectement du véritable deuil d'un couple qui n'a jamais pu retrouver sa fille.

Dans un autre registre, une fois sa supercherie révélée, The Village résonne avec un hors champs plus lisible : celui de la tendance que peut avoir une société à se refermer sur elle-même en s'inventant un imaginaire peuplé de leurres. Cette parabole pourrait être une charge contre la politique sécuritaire post-11 septembre. Quoi qu'il en soit – les interprétations sont nombreuses, la révélation vertigineuse de la manipulation est d'ordre omniscient. Shyamalan produit un puissant happening qui met en perspective l'ensemble du film. Les techniques pour créer du suspense et du fantastique sont mises à nu et renvoyées à leur propres ficelles. Elles finissent par parler d'elle-même sur l'état du monde et du vivre ensemble, mais aussi d'un point de vue beaucoup plus intime. Shyamalan ramène ici le fantastique à sa pure facticité pour mieux faire émerger le grand secret latent du film : le mensonge nécessaire dont a besoin une personne ou une communauté pour continuer à exister. À nouveau, l'ampleur de ce secret est immense. Il invite à démasquer les monstres empaillés qui jalonnent nos quotidiens. Ceux qui nous permettent de tenir bien que nous sachions qu'ils sont juste là pour nous éviter de regarder ce qu'il y a au-delà des limites. The Village contextualise cette topologie complexe en isolant un village factice au milieu d'un simulacre de forêt dont le dépassement des limites, et la révélation qui l'accompagne, signifierait l’effondrement du tout.

Ce qui frappe avec ce type de secret, ce n'est pas que la petite histoire rejoint la grande, comme dans tous ces films-miroirs où les actes des personnages témoignent des bouleversements de l'Histoire et de la société (l'adjectif "contemporain" est souvent utilisé à ce sujet) ; mais comment la grande histoire, celle d'une communauté restreinte ou de l'humanité entière, dépend des aléas de ce qui se joue dans la petite histoire. Les personnages ont une mainmise sur les événements sans le savoir, ils peuvent tout faire basculer sans s'en rendre compte. Shyamalan pense le devenir comme une suite d'incidents contingents. En ce sens, il s'impose comme un cinéaste fondamentalement anhistorique, qui refuse la relation simpliste entre l'individu et l'Histoire. Dans Incassable , David n'a jamais conscience que son existence détermine les agissements terroristes d'Elijah. Il met du temps à comprendre qu'il possède un pouvoir surhumain qui lui assigne une place sur un échiquier invisible pour lui autant que pour le spectateur. La fin omnisciente d' Incassable demeure énigmatique. Comment en comprendre la révélation ? Pourquoi nous la cacher jusqu'aux dernières minutes ? Que dit -elle sur le manichéisme latent de nos sociétés ?

Pour ne pas conclure

Il ne faudrait donc pas réduire le cinéma de Shyamalan à de la psychologie de bas étage. Tous ses films se structurent à partir de trois types de secrets qui sont moins des effets de scénarios psychologisants que des images dans le tapis, des motifs impalpables. C'est un cinéma de la boîte de Pandore, fondamentalement travaillé par un questionnement métaphysique sur le quotidien, et qui place en son centre le hasard et la contingence comme les lois de l'existence. Tous ses films, d'une manière ou d'une autre, vont faire advenir quelque chose à partir de leurs happenings . Néanmoins, ils se gardent bien de donner toutes les clés de lecture, conservant ainsi leur part de mystère et d'affects irréductibles. Ce sont ces moments-là, ces lignes de fuite qui se perdent dans l'infini, ces possibles éternellement ouverts, ces instants passagers indicibles semblant contenir toutes les forces et les raisons d'être des choses , qui rendent son cinéma si important et inépuisable.

Poursuivre l'étude de la filmographie de Shyamalan

• Thibaut Grégoire, « Split : Le Pacte de Croyance de M. Night Shyamalan » dans Le Rayon Vert , 6 mai 2017.
• Des Nouvelles du Front cinématographique, « Glass de M. Night Shyamalan : La Pharmacie du Super-héros » dans Le Rayon Vert , 22 janvier 2019.
• Thibaut Grégoire, « Knock at the Cabin de M. Night Shyamalan : Unfunny Games », Le Rayon Vert, 7 février 2023.

Film Review: ‘The Visit’

M. Night Shyamalan returns to thriller filmmaking in the style of low-budget impresario Jason Blum with mixed results.

By Geoff Berkshire

Geoff Berkshire

Associate Editor, Features

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After delivering back-to-back creative and commercial duds in the sci-fi action genre, M. Night Shyamalan retreats to familiar thriller territory with “ The Visit .” As far as happy homecomings go, it beats the one awaiting his characters, though not by much. The story of two teens spending a week with the creepy grandparents they’ve never met unfolds in a mockumentary style that’s new for the filmmaker and old hat for horror auds. Heavier on comic relief (most of it intentional) than genuine scares, this low-budget oddity could score decent opening weekend B.O. and ultimately find a cult following thanks to its freakier twists and turns, but hardly represents a return to form for its one-time Oscar-nominated auteur.

In a way, it’s a relief to see Shyamalan set aside the studio-system excesses of “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth” and get down and dirty with a found-footage-style indie crafted in the spirit of producer Jason Blum’s single location chillers. (Blum actually joined the project after filming wrapped, but it subscribes to his patented “Paranormal Activity” playbook to a T.) Except that the frustrating result winds up on the less haunting end of Shyamalan’s filmography, far south of “The Sixth Sense,” “Signs” and “The Village,” and not even as unsettling as the most effective moments in the hokey “The Happening.”

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That’s not to say “The Visit” is necessarily worse than some of those efforts, just a different kind of animal. The simplicity of the premise initially works in the pic’s favor as 15-year-old aspiring documentarian Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her 13-year-old aspiring-rap-star sibling Tyler (Ed Oxenbould of “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”) say goodbye to their hard-working single mom (Kathryn Hahn, better than the fleeting role deserves), who ships off on a weeklong cruise with her latest boyfriend. The kids travel by train to rural Pennsylvania to meet Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), the purportedly kindly parents Mom left behind when she took off with her high-school English teacher and caused a permanent rift in the family.

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Becca plans to turn the whole experience into an Oscar-caliber documentary (proving she sets her sights higher than Shyamalan these days) and also an opportunity to exorcise the personal demons both she and Tyler carry around in the wake of their parents’ separation. Unfortunately for the kids, their grandparents appear to be possessed by demons of another kind — although it takes an awfully long time for them to grow legitimately concerned about Nana’s nasty habit of roaming the house at night, vomiting on the floor and scratching at the walls in the nude, and Pop Pop’s almost-as-bizarre behavior, including stuffing a woodshed full of soiled adult diapers, attacking a stranger on the street and regularly dressing in formal wear for a “costume party” that never materializes.

Ominous warnings to not go into the basement (because of “mold,” you see) and stay in their room after 9:30 (Nana’s “bedtime”) fly right over the heads of our otherwise pop-culture-savvy protagonists. Becca even stubbornly refuses to use her omnipresent camera for nighttime reconnaissance, citing concerns over exploitation and “cinematic standards” — one of the lamest excuses yet to justify dumb decisions in a horror narrative — until the weeklong stay is almost up.

Shyamalan has long been criticized for serving up borderline (or downright) silly premises with a straight face and overtly pretentious atmosphere, but he basically abandons that approach here in favor of a looser, more playful dynamic between his fresh-faced leads. At the same time, there’s a surreal campiness to the grandparents’ seemingly inexplicable behavior, fully embraced by Tony winner Dunagan and Scottish character actor McRobbie, that encourages laughter between ho-hum jump scares. Their antics only reach full-blown menacing in the perverse-by-PG-13-standards third act. (The obligatory reveal of what’s really going on works OK, as long as you don’t question it any more than anyone onscreen ever does.)

Even if there’s less chance the audience will burst out in fits of inappropriate chuckles, as was often the case in, say, “The Happening” or “Lady in the Water,” Shyamalan still can’t quite pull off the delicate tonal balance he’s after. Once events ultimately do turn violent — and Nana does more than just scamper around the floor or pop up directly in front of the camera — the setpieces are never as scary or suspenseful as they should be. Even worse are the film’s attempts at character-driven drama, including a couple of awkward soul-baring monologues from the otherwise poised young stars, and a ludicrous epilogue that presumes auds will have somehow formed an emotional bond with characters who actually remain skin-deep throughout. One longs to see what a nervier filmmaker could have done with the concept (and a R rating).

The technical package is deliberately less slick than the Shyamalan norm, although scripting Becca as a budding filmmaker interested in mise en scene provides d.p. Maryse Alberti (whose numerous doc credits include multiple Alex Gibney features) an excuse to capture images with a bit more craft than the average found footage thriller. Shyamalan purposefully decided to forego an original score, but the soundtrack is rarely silent between the chattering of the children, a selection of source music and the eerie sound editing that emphasizes every creaking door and loud crash substituting for well-earned frights.

Reviewed at Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, Sept. 8, 2015. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 94 MIN.

• Production: A Universal release of a Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production. Produced by Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock, M. Night Shyamalan. Executive producers, Steven Schneider, Ashwin Rajan.
• Crew: Directed, written by M. Night Shyamalan. Camera (color, HD), Maryse Alberti; editor, Luke Ciarrocchi; music supervisor, Susan Jacobs; production designer, Naaman Marshall; art director, Scott Anderson; set decorator, Christine Wick; costume designer, Amy Westcott; sound (Dolby Digital), David J. Schwartz; supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer, Skip Lievsay; visual effects supervisor, Ruben Rodas; visual effects, Dive VFX; stunt coordinator, Manny Siverio; casting, Douglas Aibel.
• With: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn, Celia Keenan-Bolger.

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The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015) – Critique & Analyse

Dans une période assez troublée de sa carrière, entre échecs et films de commande, Shyamalan a toujours des ambitions artistiques à satisfaire, et il n’en a pas fini avec le cinéma. Il faut se trouver un nouveau terrain de jeu, et c’est ce qu’il vient chercher et trouver avec The Visit .

Fiche du film

• Genre : Epouvante-Horreur, Thriller
• Réalisateur(s) : M. Night Shyamalan
• Distribution : Kathryn Hahn, Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan
• Année de sortie : 2015
• Synopsis : Un frère et une sœur partent en vacances dans la ferme de leurs grand parents en Pennsylvanie. Ils y découvrent les activités plus que suspectes du vieux couple… ( SensCritique )

Critique et Analyse

Quoi de mieux, quand les temps sont durs, les moyens plus modestes, et que l’envie de retour aux sources est présente, que d’avoir recours à un bon vieux found-footage ? Un procédé qui vient tout à fait coller au cinéma de Shyamalan dans son association courante avec des histoires sombres et mystérieuses. Il est donc intéressant de voir un tel cinéaste avoir recours à cette technique pour nous embarquer dans son nouveau piège cinématographique. Et The Visit pose d’ailleurs de bonnes bases en ayant l’idée d’envoyer deux enfants curieux et débrouillards reconstruire le pont cassé entre deux générations d’une même famille.

« Avec The Visit, Shyamalan utilise une forme de langage nouvelle chez lui tout en revenant à une structure scénaristique, et à des procédés qui lui sont plus familiers. »

Là où le dialogue s’est rompu, l’image est le meilleur espoir de véhiculer les messages qui ne pouvaient plus être exprimés  en face à face. Pour les enfants, la question n’est pas juste d’enfin faire la connaissance de grands-parents qu’elle n’a jamais vus, mais aussi, voire surtout, de trouver un moyen de  comprendre ce qui a pu se passer, et de recoller les morceaux entre eux et leur mère. Un premier défi à relever, et qui va être encore plus compliqué quand de drôles d’événements vont se produire. Avec The Visit , Shyamalan utilise une forme de langage nouvelle chez lui tout en revenant à une structure scénaristique, et à des procédés qui lui sont plus familiers.

En effet, face à l’étrange, le premier réflexe des personnages est d’être dans le déni, de se persuader que cela est faux et qu’il ne s’agit que d’une illusion. Ou, qu’au pire, cela a une explication tout à fait rationnelle. La caméra, qui filme tous les instants auxquels on assiste, conditionne notre perception des choses par rapport à celle des enfants. Eux voient avec leurs yeux pendant que nous voyons à travers la caméra, qui nous fait percevoir tout autre chose. Ainsi se construit le film dans le film, jusqu’à ce que la réalité finisse par dépasser la fiction.

The Visit n’est pas exempt d’imperfections, semblant parfois abuser de cette utilisation du found-footage pour se permettre quelques libertés et se défaire des contraintes de ce procédé. Mais on retrouve cette atmosphère inquiétante, ce mystère stressant et cette sensation que quelque chose nous échappe à chaque fois. En tentant quelque chose de nouveau, Shyamalan relève son défi, sans briller particulièrement, mais c’est prometteur, et rassurant.

J’aime ça :

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Quentin, 29 ans, mordu de cinéma depuis le visionnage de Metropolis, qui fut à l'origine d'un véritable déclic. Toujours en quête de nouvelles découvertes pour élargir mes connaissances et ma vision du cinéma. "L'art existe et s'affirme là où il y a une soif insatiable pour le spirituel, l'idéal. Une soif qui rassemble tous les êtres humains." - Andreï Tarkovski

1 réflexion sur “ The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015) – Critique & Analyse ”

J’avoue que j’étais également étonné de voir Shyamalan utiliser la méthode du « found footage ». Pour moi, cette technique s’est éteinte avec la saga Paranormal Activity, mais The Visit a été plutôt bien réussi. J’ai trouvé qu’il y avait un peu trop de clichés, mais le scénario était tout de même très prenant.

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Common Sense Media Review

Shyamalan's found-footage spooker has teens in peril.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Visit is a found-footage horror movie from director M. Night Shyamalan. There are plenty of spooky images, sounds, and dialogue, as well as jump scares and a small amount of blood and gore. Viewers see dead bodies (including one killed in a rather shocking way), and two teens, 13…

Why Age 13+?

Dead bodies, one hanged. Elderly man killed in a shocking way. Some blood. Spook

"F--k" is used once. Other words include "s--t," "ass,&

Minor innuendo involving 13-year-old boy who imagines himself a ladykiller. Nana

Skype is used as part of the plot. Sony laptop shown. A Yahtzee! game, with refe

Adults occasionally smoke cigarettes. A boy mimes "pot smoking" with h

Any Positive Content?

Teens learn to overcome past fears to deal with current situations. They sometim

The main characters are teens (13 and 15) who try their best to survive a bad si

Violence & Scariness

Dead bodies, one hanged. Elderly man killed in a shocking way. Some blood. Spooky images, spooky dialogue, and jump scares. Stabbing with a mirror shard. Teens in jeopardy. Vomiting and poop. A man briefly assaults another man. Rifle briefly shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k" is used once. Other words include "s--t," "ass," "ho," "bitch," "goddamn," "hell," "douche," and possibly "a--hole." Middle finger gesture.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Minor innuendo involving 13-year-old boy who imagines himself a ladykiller. Nana's naked bottom is shown twice.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Skype is used as part of the plot. Sony laptop shown. A Yahtzee! game, with references to toy companies Hasbro and Milton Bradley.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults occasionally smoke cigarettes. A boy mimes "pot smoking" with his fingers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Teens learn to overcome past fears to deal with current situations. They sometimes work together but at other times are forced to split up.

Positive Role Models

The main characters are teens (13 and 15) who try their best to survive a bad situation; they're brave, but their situation isn't one anyone would emulate. The adults in the story aren't particularly admirable.

Parents need to know that The Visit is a found-footage horror movie from director M. Night Shyamalan . There are plenty of spooky images, sounds, and dialogue, as well as jump scares and a small amount of blood and gore. Viewers see dead bodies (including one killed in a rather shocking way), and two teens, 13 and 15, are frequently in peril. The 13-year-old boy fancies himself a ladykiller, which leads to some minor innuendo, and the "Nana" character's naked bottom is shown a couple of times. Language includes a use of "f--k," plus "s--t," "bitch," and more, most frequently spoken by the 13-year-old. Adult characters infrequently smoke cigarettes, and there's a very brief, mimed reference to smoking pot. Shyamalan is a filmmaker whom horror hounds love to hate, but this movie could be a comeback that fans will want to see. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (20)
• Kids say (83)

Based on 20 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Thirteen-year-old Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) and 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) agree to spend a week with their grandparents while encouraging their mom ( Kathryn Hahn ) to take a vacation with her boyfriend. The kids have never met their grandparents, "Nana" (Deanna Dunagan) and "Pop Pop" (Peter McRobbie), at least partly because when their mother left home 15 years earlier, something terrible apparently happened. At first things seem fine, but then Nana and Pop Pop start behaving strangely. Even if it can all be explained -- Nana gets "sundown" syndrome, and Pop Pop requires adult diapers -- it doesn't quite ease the feeling that something's wrong. Meanwhile, Becca documents their visit on video, hoping to capture something that explains it all.

Is It Any Good?

After several perplexing misfires, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has scaled back, gone for a lower budget and a lighter tone, and emerged with his most effective movie in over a decade. THE VISIT begins interestingly; the potentially creepy moments can be easily explained away and even laughed off, but the director still manages to create a subtle, creeping dread that steadily builds toward the climax.

Shyamalan uses the found-footage concept with more creativity than most other filmmakers, displaying his usual intriguing grasp of three-dimensional space, as well as empty space. The characters themselves are even aware of certain cinematic theories that could make their "documentary" more interesting. They're refreshingly intelligent and self-aware, and they never blunder stupidly into any situation. If the movie has a drawback, it's that fans will be looking hard for clues to one of Shyamalan's big "twists." As to what it is, or whether there is one, we're not saying.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Visit 's violence . How much is shown, and how much is suggested? How did it affect you? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Tyler considers himself a "ladykiller." Is his dialogue inappropriate for someone his age?

Tyler likes to rap and posts videos of himself. Is he expressing himself, or is he merely seeking fame? What's appealing about fame? Is it OK for kids to start their own online channels?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 11, 2015
• On DVD or streaming : January 5, 2016
• Cast : Kathryn Hahn , Ed Oxenbould , Olivia DeJonge
• Director : M. Night Shyamalan
• Inclusion Information : Indian/South Asian directors, Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 94 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language
• Last updated : July 24, 2024

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‘the visit’: film review.

Grandpa has a dirty secret and Granny goes bump in the night in M. Night Shyamalan’s comic horror-thriller

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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A family get-together starts out strange and quickly enters nightmare territory in  The Visit , a horror-thriller that turns soiled adult diapers into a motif. Told from a camera-equipped kids’-eye view, M. Night Shyamalan ’s latest is well cast and strong on setting. But the dull thudding that resounds isn’t part of its effective aural design; it’s the ungainly landing of nearly every shock and joke.

Notwithstanding the evidence of Shyamalan’s  features since the pitch-perfect Sixth Sense , hope endures among fans that lightning will strike twice. In the wake of bloated recent outings After Earth and The Last Airbender , that hope takes on a particular fervency with this modestly scaled return to straight-up genre fare. That anticipation will drive theatrical business for the feature, as will the lure of sheer horror fun, at least until word-of-mouth stems the box-office tide.

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Early in the film, there’s a wonderful moment when a mom’s exuberant clowning shifts to tears. Played by the terrific Kathryn Hahn , she’s a divorced woman seeing her kids off at the train station. From that point on, the energy, warmth and nuance of her performance is reduced to intermittent Skype sessions — a crucial element to the story but nonetheless a letdown for the viewer.

To give Mom time alone with her boyfriend, teenage Becca ( Olivia DeJonge ) and tween Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ), a serious germophobe and aspiring rapper, have volunteered for a weeklong stay at the Pennsylvania farm of their grandparents. It’s an especially generous offer given that they’ve never before met Nana and Pop Pop ( Deanna Dunagan and  Peter McRobbie ).

Read more Critic’s Notebook: Buoyed By Jobs and Bulger Biopics , Telluride Delivers

But there’s more to it than generosity; the camera-wielding siblings, budding auteur Becca in particular, sense an opportunity to make a documentary that uncovers the generational rift between their grandparents and their mother, who left the farm as a teenager under circumstances she refuses to discuss.

The grands prove no more forthcoming on the subject, but that’s the least of the kids’ worries as they’re confronted with Nana’s nocturnal rages, usually unclothed, and Pop Pop’s unsavory stockpile in the shed. Determined not to be one of those people who fear the elderly “for no reason,” Becca chooses to ignore the ample reasons before her. While Tyler goes eagerly sniffing for trouble, she accepts the rational explanations Nana and Pop Pop give her for their increasingly bizarre and unsettling behavior.

Through it all, she and her brother shoot their documentary. Cinematographer  Maryse Alberti captures the sense of a nonstop work in progress, seen through the lenses of the kids’ video cameras and laptop, with reality-style interviews, off-center framing and p.o.v. night footage a la Blair Witch . Shyamalan uses the various devices to tiring effect and without conjuring the requisite deep chills.

Playing off the winking self-consciousness of the film-within-a-film, there’s a jokey aspect to the feints and shock cuts. The writer-director’s would-be sendup of down-home country comfort tries to have fun with fairy-tale terrors. The result is almost always mechanical rather than exciting or funny, despite the actors’ layered performances — the self-aware kids, Dunagan’s otherworldly weirdness and McRobbie’s unnerving deadpan.

The rural winter backdrop works as a fitting contrast to Mom’s Skype dispatches from her sunny cruise-ship vacation. Within what’s essentially a single setting, Shyamalan and Alberti keep things visually diverse but cohesive, while Naaman Marshall ’s clean farmhouse interiors avoid the common trap of overdesign .

A Jungian therapist might have a field day with the story’s plunge into the nigredo , the aspect of alchemy that involves putrefaction and decomposition (those diapers!). But the unpleasantly memorable moments of the movie’s dark mix hardly compensate for the dull sludge surrounding it. Attempts to liven things up with Oxenbould’s raps don’t do the trick either. And given the lack of gripping storytelling, the big twist arrives as more of a “hmmm” moment than a ground-shaking thrill.

The movie isn’t without an emotional core, though: It’s Hahn’s mostly absent character, and although she’s called upon to deliver the heavy-handed moral of the story, she manages to make every moment she’s onscreen ring true.

In one of the few gags that connects in this missed opportunity of a film, Tyler utters the names of female singers rather than cursing when he’s upset or disappointed. To borrow that conceit, a fair response to The Visit might be “Cher, Rihanna, Dolly Parton.”

Production companies: Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Olivia DeJonge , Ed Oxenbould , Deanna Dunagan , Peter McRobbie , Celia Keenan-Bolger , Samuel Stricklen , Patch Darragh Director: M. Night Shyamalan Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan Producers: Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock , M. Night Shyamalan Executive producers: Steven Schneider, Ashwin Rajan Director of photography: Maryse Alberti Production designer: Naaman Marshall Costume designer: Amy Westcott Editor: Luke Ciarrocchi Casting director: Douglas Aibel Rated PG-13, 94 minutes

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The Visit: Where Was M. Night Shyamalan’s Horror Movie Shot?

Helmed by director M. Night Shyamalan, ‘The Visit’ is a thrilling found-footage film that follows siblings Becca and Tyler as they visit their grandparents, and notice their increasingly disturbing behavior. After arriving at their grandparents’ quaint countryside home, Becca and Tyler are delighted to be able to spend time with them after so long. A day of delightful catching up later, Pop Pop puts the two to sleep and strongly suggests that they not leave their room after nine-thirty. Later that night the children hear loud bangs and scratchings. Soon the elders’ strange behaviour leaks over to the daytime, making the siblings concerned for their safety, but failing to convince their mother to pick them up.

The 2015 film’s tension builds steadily as the siblings uncover dark family secrets and struggle to survive in a house filled with eerie mysteries . ‘The Visit’ delivers a compelling blend of psychological horror and thrilling situations, using its simple backdrop and premise to create terrifying circumstances. The chilling story is contrasted heavily by its seemingly mundane backdrop, which is later revealed to hide disturbing realities within its layers. Thus the atmospheric tension built throughout the tale may spark curiosity in some regarding its real-world filming sites.

The Visit Filming Locations

‘The Visit’ was filmed mainly in Philadelphia, Chester Springs, and Royersford, Pennsylvania, with a few scenes shot in Miami, Florida. Principal photography began on February 19, 2014, under the tentative title, ‘Sundowning,’ and was wrapped up in about a month by March 21 of the same year. In an interview , writer-director Shyamalan marveled at finding the ideal actors to bring his story to life, saying, “This might be my perfect constellation of actors, it’s as if these people were the people that I wrote.” Let’s examine the sites seen throughout the film and their real-life counterparts.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Situated along the banks of the Delaware River, the city of Philadelphia has a brief appearance in ‘The Visit,’ primarily at the beginning and end of the film. When the siblings are dropped off at the train station by their mother, the site is actually the 30th Street Station at 3001 Market Street. Officially known as William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, the prominent intermodal transit station is defined by its grand classical entrance held up with Roman pillars.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ed Oxenbould (@edoxenbould)

Chester Springs, Pennsylvania

Filming for the grandparents’ house and its exterior scenes was carried out on 3049 Merlin Road, in the unincorporated community of Chester Springs in Chester County. The community lies west of Philadelphia, and its serene snow-covered landscape can be spotted early in ‘The Visit’ as the siblings travel to their grandparents’ house.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Visit (@thevisitmovie)

Royersford, Pennsylvania

Nestled along the Schuylkill River, the borough of Royersford stood in for much of the town seen in the film as the characters left the house. Shooting for these scenes was done on 330 Main Street, its small-town charm imbuing the narrative with a pleasant departure from the claustrophobic situations at the elders’ house. Further filming was done on location at 705 Washington Street, which is a quintessential suburban neighborhood.

#Royersford Ambulance crew with @MNightShyamalan . #Sundowning pic.twitter.com/SXR9zKWr9X — Matt Stehman 🇺🇸🇺🇦🌻 (@MattStehman) February 20, 2014

When the grandfather takes the siblings out to a school, shooting for the sequence was done at the 5/6 Grade Center on 833 South Lewis Road. After their visit, whilst returning, they begin to play a game of pointing out at buildings and guessing their stories. The children point to a large, red-bricked complex lined with white windows. The grandfather ominously reveals the structure to be the Maple Shade Psychiatric Hospital, where he had supposedly volunteered at an earlier point in time. The structure is actually the Royersford Spring Company on 98 Main Street which manufactures automotive parts and springs.

Miami, Florida

For a couple of scenes on a cruise ship, the film crew ventured onboard the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas for a few days in Miami. The city’s bustling seaport, PortMiami, stands as the Cruise Capital of the World, welcoming millions of passengers annually to embark on voyages to exotic destinations. The cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, was used as a set for ‘The Visit.’ A casting call for extras announced the need for upscale cruise wear and skills related to activities carried out on the ship, such as wakeboarding and rock wall climbing.

Adam Goldstein tours the set of @MNightShyamalan 's new film shooting scenes onboard Allure of the Seas. pic.twitter.com/WzCG5RtzCp — Royal Caribbean Public Relations (@RoyalCaribPR) April 7, 2014

Read More:  Is The Visit Based on a True Story?

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Friedrich Dürrenmatt

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Visit: Introduction

The visit: plot summary, the visit: detailed summary & analysis, the visit: themes, the visit: quotes, the visit: characters, the visit: symbols, the visit: theme wheel, brief biography of friedrich dürrenmatt.

Historical Context of The Visit

Other books related to the visit.

• Full Title: The Visit (German: Der Besuch der alten Dame )
• When Written: 1956
• Where Written: Switzerland
• When Published: The play was written and produced in 1956.
• Genre: Dürrenmatt describes the play as a “tragicomedy,” a comic response to the tragic nature of life in the wake of WWII. The play can also be considered a contribution to the theater of the absurd, which portrays the hopelessness of human struggle in a meaningless world.
• Setting: The fictional small Swiss town of Güllen in 1956
• Climax: The climax of The Visit comes near the end of its third act when the townspeople of Güllen finally execute Ill, thereby wrecking any hope that Ill might be saved or that humanism might prevail over greed.

Extra Credit for The Visit

Movie love: The German actress and documentarian Charlotte Ker approached Dürrenmatt in the early 1980s with the hope of producing a documentary about his life. The result of their collaboration was not only the film (entitled Portrait of a Planet ), but also their marriage in 1984!

Politically active: Dürrenmatt was involved in global politics throughout his life and he wrote a number of articles supporting Israel during and following its six-day war with Egypt in 1967.

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'The Visit' Movie 2015: 4 Things To Know About M. Night Shyamalan's New Horror Film

Visiting your grandparents might never be the same. M. Night Shyamalan's new film, "The Visit," is a thriller about two kids, Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), who go off and visit their estranged grandparents ... only to find there's something wrong with Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie).

While many feel Shyamalan lost his touch with horror/thriller films, "The Visit" has received many positive reviews so far and could be worth checking out. However, before you head to the theater this weekend, here are four things you should know about "The Visit":

1. Shyamalan's Eleventh Film: " The Visit " will be the eleventh film Shyamalan has directed. The director became well known after the success of 1999's "The Sixth Sense," and the famous twist ending in the movie. He also gained acclaim for "Unbreakable" and "Signs." However, positive reviews about his films started to fade when he released "The Village" in 2004 and "Lady in the Water" in 2006. "The Visit" will be Shyamalan's first thriller since 2008's "The Happening." He will look to make a strong comeback for himself with "The Visit," not only in the thriller genre, but also in Hollywood.

2. Found Footage: "The Visit" was filmed as a found footage style movie, meaning what the viewers see on screen is through the camera of one of the characters, as if what you're seeing is what the character is filming. In "The Visit," the grandchildren will be recording their visit with their grandparents on film as things start to get weird and scary. The technique has been used in many movies over the years including "The Blair Witch Project," "Paranormal Activity," "Cloverfield" and "Chronicle."

3. Comedy Mixed With Scares: Shyamalan uses a combination of laughs and scares in "The Visit." The director told Deadline he essentially uses a rhythm of “comedy scare, comedy scare."

"Then the laughing and the screaming — they get close together, until there’s a 180 and you’re laughing and screaming at the same time," he dished.

Producer Jason Blum added that the use of humor will disarm and relax viewers. "That’s a very specific tone to strike and it’s virtually impossible to sell in the market. I think having humor in a scary movie is important, but you can’t keep someone at the edge of your seat. It’s hard to do well,” said Blum. Blum is known for producing the horror films "Paranormal Activity," "The Purge," "Insidious," and "Sinister."

4. Filmed In 30 Days: According to Business Insider , Shyamalan filmed "The Visit," in 30 days with a $5 million budget and 25 crew members. He wanted to shoot the movie fast, just as he directed the pilot episode of Fox's "Wayward Pines." "'Wayward Pines' really gave me a sense of how to shoot fast and with a kind of leaner, tighter mentality because that’s what TV demands,” he said. Shyamalan also personally financed the $5 million for the movie himself.

"The Visit" hits theaters Friday, Sept. 11. Watch the trailer below:

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5. The Speckerman Recurrence (Season 5, Episode 11)

There are already a  lot of characters on "The Big Bang Theory," so adding new ones in from the characters' pasts just feels frustrating — especially when you know they're not going to stick around. With that said, nobody wanted Jimmy Speckerman, played by Lance Barber, to  ever come back after the season 5 episode "The Speckerman Recurrence."

"The Big Bang Theory" loves driving the point home that the main guys — Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) , Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), and Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) — are huge nerds, so naturally, they talk a lot about how much they were bullied in high school. Enter Jimmy Speckerman, who asks Leonard if they can meet up for a drink despite the fact that Jimmy spent their shared time in high school absolutely traumatizing Leonard.

If you think anyone learns a lesson in this episode, you'd be utterly and completely wrong! After they meet up, Jimmy shows up at Leonard's door completely wasted, so Leonard tells him to crash on his and Sheldon's couch rather than let him drive home. When Jimmy wakes up, he's just as awful as he was in high school and ends up chasing Leonard and Sheldon out of their apartment. It's just a complete waste of time when all is said and done. Add in a dull, weird subplot about Penny, Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), and Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) stealing clothes from a donation booth —  and the fact that Barber also plays Sheldon's dad George Sr. in the spin-off "Young Sheldon" — and you've got a cruddy episode on your hands.

4. The Skank Reflex Analysis (Season 5, Episode 1)

After Chuck Lorre and his creative team made the absolutely baffling decision to toss Raj and Penny into bed together at the end of season 4, audiences had to deal with the fallout in the season 5 premiere "The Skank Reflex Analysis." (The title is just the gross cherry on top of this entire outing, honestly.) The entire run time of the episode is just the core group arguing about whether or not Penny and Raj  actually hooked up, because she was too drunk in the moment to remember precisely what happened after and Raj is telling everybody that they're in "love." Leonard, as usual, is having the calmest and sanest reaction to all of this. No, I'm totally kidding. He acts like a jerk towards both Penny and Raj the whole time.

While the guys squabble over who Penny "wants" the most (other than Leonard, who she's already dated), Penny is just completely freaked out over what she may or may not have done and hides out at Amy's house, even though Amy's pretty rude to her about the whole situation too. So, what's the resolution here? Raj finally tells Penny that, actually, nothing serious happened; when she touched him, he got a  little too excited and then they both went to sleep. Between the absolutely bizarre conclusion to this awful storyline and the way everyone treats Penny throughout the episode, "The Skank Reflex Analysis" is definitely avoidable.

3. The Itchy Brain Simulation (Season 7, Episode 8)

Sheldon treats his friends like garbage throughout pretty much all of "The Big Bang Theory," but in the season 7 episode "The Itchy Brain Simulation," he takes his behavior to a new and pretty reprehensible level. When he asks Leonard to locate some skeeball tickets he won years beforehand, Leonard is forced to tell Sheldon that he keeps a box of old Sheldon-adjacent junk ... which includes a DVD of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" they forgot to return to a video store. Sheldon is incredibly bothered by this loose end and tries to get Leonard to understand  why it bothers him so much by making him wear an itchy red sweater (made by Leonard's aunt) until he can return the DVD. Why? Sheldon says stuff like unreturned DVDs make his brain "itchy," and he needs Leonard to commiserate as penance.

Unfortunately for Leonard, the video store is closed and its owner has died. When Leonard tries to find the owner's next of kin, only to discover that they live in either Armenia or Lebanon, he flips out at Sheldon, at which point Sheldon finally admits that he paid the late fee for the DVD  seven years ago and there's actually no issue whatsoever with the fact that they still have it. This is particularly nasty behavior from Sheldon, and the fact that Leonard's rash from the sweater just gets grosser and grosser throughout the episode certainly doesn't help matters. Also, Raj — the character Kunal Nayyar very nearly didn't even play — is weird to women. That's his whole storyline.

2. The Romance Recalibration (Season 10, Episode 13)

"The Big Bang Theory" pairs a lot of its main characters up pretty early in the narrative, which means that the writers have to constantly keep introducing issues into the story to cause conflict amongst the couples. This brings us to "The Romance Recalibration," the 13th episode of the show's 10th season, which sees Penny feeling taken for granted by Leonard. As a result, she decides to bring Amy along with her for a spa weekend instead of her husband. This all sounds sort of normal, but what's  really weird about this entire thing is that the show seems to temporarily forget that Sheldon hates all forms of intimacy and is pretty mean to Amy, and sets  these two up as the superior couple just for one single episode.

No, Leonard isn't exactly a prince where Penny is concerned, but the idea that Sheldon and Amy can teach Leonard and Penny a thing or two about relationships just because they have a "relationship agreement" in print is completely absurd. (It gets worse: Leonard and Penny practically beg Sheldon to make them their own "relationship agreement.") After this episode, Sheldon and Amy never act like that ever again — and certainly never have an extended makeout sequence on-screen again — making it clear that this dull, irritating episode was a complete divergence from the rest of the series.

1. The Matrimonial Momentum (Season 9, Episode 1)

What's with bad season premieres on "The Big Bang Theory?" The season 9 premiere, "The Matrimonial Momentum," makes a huge mistake right from the jump — it separates Penny and Leonard from the rest of the gang as they plan a hasty elopement in Las Vegas rather than have a wedding with all of their loved ones present. The wedding is live-streamed for everyone back in Pasadena, but the whole thing just ... really sucks. Penny recites the entirety of Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me" from "Toy Story" in lieu of writing any actual vows for her husband, and Leonard ends up ruining the entire day when they get back to their hotel room because in the season 8 finale, "The Commitment Determination," he revealed to Penny that he kissed another woman on a boat in the North Sea while he was away on a research trip. (This reveal is the entire impetus for their elopement. Real healthy stuff here.)

Despite Leonard telling Penny that the kiss was terrible — "If you're imagining that it was sexy, it wasn't. We were both drunk, and she smelled like an ashtray. The boat was moving a lot, so I chipped her tooth" — it obviously ruins the entire day, and the end result is that Penny and Leonard's wedding sucks so hard that they do it all over again in the season 10 premiere "The Conjugal Conjecture." The show should have just skipped their first wedding entirely, to be honest.

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