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The Visit (2015 American film)

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The Visit
Theatrical release poster
Directed byM. Night Shyamalan
Written byM. Night Shyamalan
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMaryse Alberti
Edited byLuke Franco Ciarrocchi
Music byPaul Cantelon
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • September 8, 2015 (2015-09-08) (New York premiere)
  • September 11, 2015 (2015-09-11) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[2]
Box office$38.5 million[3]

The Visit is a 2015 American comedy thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.[4] The film stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn. The film was released in North America on September 11, 2015 by Universal Pictures.

Plot

Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) prepare for a week-long stay with their grandparents James (Peter McRobbie) and Doris (Deanna Dunagan), while their mother, Loreta (Kathryn Hahn), goes on a cruise with her new boyfriend. The two kids, who have never met their grandparents, intend to film a documentary about their visit. Loreta has not seen her parents for 15 years, after she eloped with her high-school teacher, Robert, who has since left her. She tells Rebecca little about the disagreement she had with her parents, suggesting that Rebecca ask them for more details.

James and Doris greet Rebecca and Tyler at the train station. Once they are settled in at their grandparents' isolated farmhouse, Rebecca and Tyler are instructed to never go near the basement because it contains toxic mold. That night, James tells Rebecca and Tyler that as he and Doris are elderly, their bedtime is 9:30 p.m. An hour past curfew, Rebecca ventures downstairs for something to eat and discovers Doris projectile vomiting. Later, Rebecca mentions it to James, who dismisses it as Doris having the stomach flu. John then says that she and Tyler must not leave their bedroom after 9:30 p.m. The next night, the children hear noises outside their bedroom. There, Rebecca finds Doris completely nude trying to claw a wall.

Over the next few days, Rebecca and Tyler notice their grandparents exhibiting more strange behavior. When Rebecca asks Doris about what happened the day Loreta left home, Doris begins shaking and screaming until Rebecca calms her. James and Doris are later confronted by a woman who was helped by them in counseling; she goes into the house with them but is never seen leaving. Tyler, concerned about the occurrences, decides to secretly film what happens downstairs at night. Doris discovers the hidden camera, retrieves a large knife, and unsuccessfully tries to break into the children's locked bedroom.

When Rebecca and Tyler view the camera footage, they contact their mother. When shown images of James and Doris, Loreta panics and reveals that they are not her parents. Rebecca and Tyler attempt to leave the house, but the impostors trap them, and force them to play Yahtzee. Rebecca excuses herself and sneaks to the basement. There, she finds the corpses of the real James and Doris, along with uniforms from the mental hospital they worked at, indicating the impostors are escaped patients who killed the real grandparents. James grabs Rebecca and imprisons her in his bedroom with Doris, who tries to strangle her. Rebecca fatally stabs Doris with a glass shard, then escapes. Rebecca tries to save Tyler, but James grabs her. Tyler tackles James to the floor and repeatedly slams the refrigerator door on his head, killing him. The two escape outside where they are met by Loreta and police officers.

In the aftermath, Rebecca asks Loreta about what happened the day she left home. Loretta states that she had a physical fight with her parents and never visited them after that. However, James and Doris had tried to contact her afterwards, and Loreta concludes that reconciliation was always possible if she wanted it. She tells Rebecca not to hold on to anger over Robert and hugs her.

During the closing credits, Tyler performs a freestyle rap about his experiences.

Cast

Production

On February 24, 2014, filming started, under the preliminary title Sundowning, at different locations in Pennsylvania, including Royersford, Chester Springs and Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.[6] M. Night Shyamalan's Blinding Edge Pictures was the production company, with Shyamalan and Marc Bienstock producing. Steven Schneider and Ashwin Rajan acted as executive producers.[7][8] Later, producer Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions were included in the credits.[9]

Shyamalan admitted that he had trouble getting the tone for the film locked down during the editing film, telling Bloody Disgusting that the first cut of the film resembled an art house film more so than a horror film. A second cut of the film went in the opposite direction and the film became a comedy. Shyamalan eventually struck a middle balance and cut the film as a thriller, which, according to him, helped tie the different elements together as they "could stay in service of the movie".[10]

Release

Universal began The Visit's theatrical wide release in the United States on September 11, 2015.[11] On April 17, 2015, the first official trailer was released to theaters, attached to the film Unfriended. The trailer was released online later that week.[9][12]

The film premiered in Ireland on August 30, 2015, in a special screening attended by Shyamalan.[citation needed]

Reception

Box office

As of September 18, 2015, The Visit has grossed $34.6 million in North America and $3.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $38.5 million, against a budget of $5 million.[3]

The film grossed $25.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office by just $450,000 behind fellow newcomer The Perfect Guy ($25.9 million).

Critical response

The Visit received mixed reviews, with praise directed to the cast and the film's humor, as well as to the film as a return to form for Shyamalan.[13] On Rotten Tomatoes the film currently holds a rating of 60%, based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying blend of thrills and laughs – and also signals a welcome return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan."[14] On Metacritic the film has a score of 55 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Scott Mendelson from Forbes called Shyamalan's film a "deliciously creepy and funny little triumph". He also wrote: "The Visit is the one we’ve been waiting for, folks. It’s good. Oh my word, is it good. But more importantly, it is excellent in that specific way that reminds us why M. Night Shyamalan was once such a marvel. It is richly humanistic, filled with individually sketched characters that often sparkle with wit and surprising decency."[17] And in The New York Times, Manohla Dargis described the film as "an amusingly grim fairy tale". Shyamalan has gone back to basics, "with a stripped-down story and scale, a largely unknown (excellent) cast and one of those classically tinged tales of child peril that have reliably spooked audiences for generations".[18]

In his column for The Observer, Mark Kermode panned the film, saying it may be worse than Lady in the Water: "Is it meant to be a horror film? Or a comedy? The publicity calls it 'an original thriller' but it is neither of those things. Only 'endurance test' adequately describes the ill-judged shenanigans that ensue."[19] Mike McCahill gave the film one star (out of five) in his review for The Guardian, and said it was "Dull, derivative and flatly unscary."[20]

References

  1. ^ "THE VISIT (15)". British Board of Film Classification. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  2. ^ "The Visit (2015) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com. January 21, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "The Visit (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  4. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan's next thriller 'The Visit' set for 2015 release". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Visit also stars Erica Lynne Marszalek, Peter McRobbie, Olivia DeJonge, Deanna Dunagan, Benjamin Kanes, Jon Douglas Rainey, Brian Gildea, Shawn Gonzalez, Richard Barlow, Steve Annan, and Michael Mariano". BD. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  6. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan begins filming new project in Pennsylvania". onlocationvacations.com. February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  7. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan's Low Budget 'Sundowning' Plot & Cast Revealed". FS. March 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Jeff Sneider (March 21, 2014). "M. Night Shyamalan's 'Sundowning' Stars Kathryn Hahn, Ed Oxenbould (Exclusive)". Thewrap.com. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Michelle McCue (April 18, 2015). "M. Night Shyamalan's THE VISIT Trailer Attached To UNFRIENDED; First Poster In Theaters". We Are Movie Geeks. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  10. ^ "[Interview] M. Night Shyamalan On 'The Visit,' His First True Horror Film!". Bloody-Disgusting. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  11. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Visit' Has "Disturbing Thematic Material"". BD. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  12. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan on Twitter: "It'll be online next week! "@mrdavesim: @MNightShyamalan where's this trailer for The Visit people are taking about?? I want in!""". Twitter.com. April 18, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  13. ^ "The Perfect Guy' scares off 'The Visit' at Friday's box office". LA Times.com. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  14. ^ "The Visit". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  15. ^ "The Visit reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  16. ^ "'The Perfect Guy' Scores On Date Night, 'The Visit' Stays Strong – B.O. Friday". deadline.com.
  17. ^ "M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Visit' Is A Glorious Return To Form". Forbes. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  18. ^ "Review: 'The Visit' Is 'Hansel and Gretel' With Less Candy and More Camcorders". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  19. ^ "'The Visit review – ill-judged shenanigans from M Night Shyamalan'". The Guardian. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "'The Visit review – M Night Shyamalan's found-footage loser'". The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
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