M Night Shyamalan is a director that who’s latest releases I will always prioritize! As a teenager I loved The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable and lamented having been unable to watch the cinematic releases! Despite a slew of critically panned films, Shyamalan made an overwhelmingly positive comeback with The Visit (being nominated for a Razzie Comeback Award) and the surprise sequel to Unbreakable, Split, my most anticipated film of 2016.
Glass was okay.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
Old is the story of holiday makers at a suspiciously fancy resort finding themselves trapped on a beach, the environment of which is causing everyone to age rapidly. It is worked out by one character that half an hour amounts to one year.
On the surface this is a film about a collection of families trying to escape their demise on a seemingly cursed beach. However Shyamalan has successfully adapted a far more thought provoking and philosophical story. Ultimately it is the story of a family coming together in absurdly difficult times and realising that despite everything they are just happy to be together.
Despite criticisms of stilted acting (which I don’t agree with) or mediocre screenwriting (which cannot always be denied). I think the film boasts a lot of strengths, the highlight for me being a tension building camerawork that keeps the audience guessing what’s going on. The performance of the actors involved were predominantly very good and the imagery used while unpleasant and occasionally bordering on the disturbing created an uncomfortable project that in many ways embraced the experimental and unique nature of the original story.
Critics have brought up several issues they’ve taken with this film, many of which are not without justification. A video by Amanda the Jedi rightly points out the many times that all the building tensions are broken. The film is littered with dialogue issues from Abbey Lee’s long lost love “Giuseppe” to Eliza Scanlan’s far too precocious concerns for someone who is meant to have the mind of a toddler. But these issues did not hinder the film for me, they’re imperfections, in what was a very interesting film, as much as I did not enjoy watching what was unfolding.
However for me the talent of the film was the beach and not the resort; which I think was the difference between a decent enough film and what could have been a very engaging experimental piece. Not unlike its source material.
The twist ending to me was what separated the experimental project from the Hollywood production. What could have been The Exterminating Angel became any other new release.
I will admit, after spending so long watching various shades of horror unfold before me, I was relieved by the more upbeat and cleanly resolved ending and I felt slightly better leaving the cinema for it. But I did later lament what the film could have been.
For me the resolve of the film was the surviving family sitting together and being glad that through everything, they’re glad that they’re together now. That they can’t remember why they were so mad and that they love each other.
The now 50 year old siblings building a sandcastle together while discussing whether they still feel like children because yesterday they were children or if all adults still feel like children in a lot of ways.
Overall I would say that this film would currently be fairing much better with Critics and audiences without its twist ending or early set up.
However, I still think this film is being critiqued too harshly. Everything good about this film I don’t believe is diminished by an ending slightly different to the one I would have wanted, and as I’ve already said, the new ending had its merits (it’s also good to see Big Pharma villains).
I would definitely recommend seeing this film. Its fantastically shot and still proves to be a thought provoking and well-crafted piece of film. That has left me excited for Shyamalan’s next project!
Further Reading…
T H E N A I V E F I L M M A K E R 