Writer: M. Night Shyamalan (Screenplay)
Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Samuel Stricklen
Plot: A single mother finds that things in her family’s life go very wrong after her two young children visit their grandparents.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Paced Horror
Story: The Visit starts with Mom (Hahn) giving an interview to where she is now in her life where she got married, divorced and has two kids Becca (DeJonge) and Tyler (Oxenbould) who get a chance to make up with her parents who have never met their grand kids. The two kids are are filming the events of their journey and week with grandparents Nana (Dunagan) & Pop Pop (McRobbie).
We follow as Becca & Tyler continue to go through the generic found footage annoying behavior before the first night in the house when Becca discovers something about Nana. As the visit continues strange things start happening and Becca & Tyler get worried about Nana and Pop Pop’s behavior.
The Visit comes off as a simple found footage idea which leaves you wondering what is going on throughout, it takes it times to give us the final reveal and equally leaves us with plenty of options out there. I would like to ask the one big plot hole issue for me and that would be not showing the kids a photo of the grandparents first. Over looking that issue the final act really ends up great because it would keeps you guessing from start to finish without giving too much away.
Actor Review
Olivia DeJonge: Becca is the eldest of the children who wants to document the visit giving us the found footage excuse as she films every moment of the trip, she also has to look after her little brother. Olivia comes from nowhere to give a great performance in this role.
Ed Oxenbould: Tyler is the younger of the sibling who is acting way older than his age but he also believes that he could be responsible for his parents divorce. Ed gives us a great performance for the young actor.
Deanna Dunagan: Nana during the day comes off like a normal elderly woman but by night she ends up having a secret where she comes off very strange with the way she acts. Deanna gives us a good performance in this role where she changes mind set in almost every scene.
Peter McRobbie: Pop Pop is the grandfather who has issues during the day but protects his wife during the day from her nightly activities. Peter does a good supporting role that doesn’t do much extra even though he has something uneasy about him throughout.
Kathryn Hahn: Mom is their parent to the kids who sends them to have a weekend away with her parents that she hasn’t seen in since she ran away from home when she was 19. Kathryn is mostly on web cam just checking in on the kids.
Support Cast: The Visit really doesn’t have any supporting characters with anyone else just appearing in one scene.
Director Review: M. Night Shyamalan – He is back on top of the genre here with a good horror that shows he is getting back to what he does best.
Horror: The Visit has an overall feel of creepiness from start to finish.
Thriller: The Visit keeps us wondering about what is happening without hinting too far before finally giving us the reveal.
Settings: The Visit is set mostly in the remote house giving the whole film giving it an isolated location feeling.
Special Effects: The Visit doesn’t end up using special effects which shows you don’t need them for horror.
Suggestion: The Visit is one to watch for all the horror fans out there because they will enjoy it all. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: The reveal.
Worst Part: It does come off slow to start.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Box Office: $60 Million (US)
Budget: $5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
Tagline: No one loves you like your grandparents
Trivia: M. Night Shyamalan used his fee from the Will Smith produced science-fiction adventure story After Earth (2013) to self-produce the film in question. In his own words, this was “an attempt to regain artistic control” after his recent movies had been denied final cut, and were even taken away from him in post-production.
Overall: Slow burning horror thriller that really does have a disturbing final twist
Rating