Forget warm cookies and hugs. The grandparents in director M. Night Shyamalan’s newest thriller, “The Visit,” offer disturbing behavior and a 9:30 bedtime when their grandchildren come to visit for the week.
In Shyamalan’s newest film, two kids, Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) venture to their grandparent’s house while their mother, Paula, (Kathryn Hahn) goes on a cruise with her boyfriend. Despite not having seen her parents in 15 years, Paula has no problem sending her children away.
The fun starts immediately. Rebecca and Tyler unite with their grandparents in a small Pennsylvania town. Striving to become a renowned documentarian, Rebecca captures their time on camera—including interviews with her grandparents and personal narrations of events as they occur. Tyler occasionally helps handle the camera, in addition to lightening the mood with some hilarious freestyle raps.
This film offers a few creepy scenes but doesn’t have any bone-chilling moments. “The Visit” would better be classified as a comedy, as it offers a multitude of laugh-out-loud moments.
Tyler’s vulgar, but silly, raps pop up throughout the movie—one is even used during the end credits, proving that Shyamalan didn’t aim for a true horror creation but rather, a creepy film with a comedic feel.
Another notable aspect of the film comes from Tyler’s exclamations. He decides that instead of using swear words, he will say female singers’ names. Sarah McLachlan, Katy Perry and Shakira are all yelled at different points in the film, each time funnier than the last.
Aside from the funny moments, the plot of the film isn’t that exciting. After 9:30 each night, the grandma exhibits strange behavior. The audience sees her scratching a door in a feline manner, projectile vomiting down the hallway and crawling across the floors in her nightgown. Nothing out of the ordinary for a scary movie.
The twist (hint: it has to do with the grandparents) has little to no impact on the film. It’s expected, and while it finally wraps up a large part of the storyline, it’s definitely not a memorable part of the movie.
“The Visit” had a small budget of $5 million, and as of now, it has grossed $25,427,560. It won’t be surprising to see the film’s revenue increase over the next few weeks due to the film’s unique combination of thrills and laughs.
kolbee14@bonaventure.edu
