Review of The Visit
Skyler Powers
M. Night Shyamalan had a classic case of beginner’s luck. He debuted strongly with movies like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. However, his luck changed for the worst when he hit rock bottom with The Happening and neither The Last Airbender nor After Earth could restore his reputation. Now, Shyamalan has returned to his roots in horror with a new comedic twist in his latest film, The Visit.
When I heard about this movie and saw the previews, I was not looking forward to it and I had no urge to see it. However, I decided I’d give it a chance after hearing surprisingly good reviews. I went and saw it and I actually liked it. It isn’t the best horror or comedy movie out there, and definitely isn’t the best horror comedy out there. That being said, this is a solid movie and I genuinely enjoyed it.
The acting in this movie was good to great. No one was extraordinary in this film, but many people gave solid performances. The most notable performance is that of Deanna Dunagan. She portrayed the grandmother in the film who is referred to as “Nana.” She was a natural at playing a suspicious and scary grandmother. Peter McRobbie also gave a good performance as Pop Pop, but he wasn’t as good as Dunagan in my opinion. The performances that really mattered, however, were those of the two children, Becca and Tyler (played by Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould respectively). I am pleased to say that they gave great performances. It can be a challenge for a child actor since they usually have little experience to carry a movie along, but these two did it well. You believe their fright and they seem natural together, which is a good thing considering they portray siblings. There are also a few scenes that really try to pull at the heartstrings and they are, for the most part, very effective. DeJonge has to portray strong emotions in one scene and she does it superbly. Their mother, played by Kathryn Hahn, also gave a solid performance even though she had one of the smaller parts in the movie.
Moving on from the acting, the scares were also good. There are a few jump scares, which are when the combination of a loud noise and an unscary change in the scene are used to scare the audience or make them jump. They are frowned upon because the scares aren’t genuine. However, some of the jump scares in this film are actually scary. Besides the jump scares, there is an overwhelming and effective sense of dread through much of the movie. The movie’s plot also intrigues you as small details are given here and there until the “big twist” at the end. Moving onto the twist, I found it surprising but cliche. I won’t spoil it but I didn’t see the twist coming and neither did many people. However, it has been used before in other movies. I felt that the twist was a bit disappointing in that aspect and I think that Shyamalan could’ve come up with something else since he adds surprising and original twists to almost all of his movies.
In the end, The Visit offers some decent scares accompanied by dread, solid acting, an interesting plot, and believable characters. It does have some issues mainly regarding the twist and some of the jump scares which are put there just to catch the audience off guard in an unoriginal and non genuine way. I am excited that Shyamalan has a made a good, enjoyable movie once again. If he stays in the horror genre, I think he will make many more reputable movies that will live up to his original masterpieces.
