On the list of most polarizing filmmakers in Hollywood is M. Night Shyamalan. When at the top of his game, Shyamalan is the master of suspense and atmosphere, with twist endings that will blow your mind. Sometimes, the surprises don’t land, leading to several misfires. Nevertheless, Shyamalan is a brilliant filmmaker who champions original stories that bring people to theaters.
Shyamalan’s next nightmare is “Trap,” a psychological thriller described as “'The Silence of the Lambs' at a Taylor Swift concert." Josh Hartnett plays Cooper, a serial killer known as “The Butcher” who attends a popstar’s concert with his daughter (Ariel Donoghue). The concert is a trap by the FBI to catch the killer, forcing Cooper to find a way out.
Ahead of the release of “Trap,” these are Shyamalan’s seven best movies, ranked.
7. ‘Knock at the Cabin’
A psychological thriller set during the apocalypse is a premise tailor-made to fit Shyamalan’s style. Based on Paul G. Tremblay's 2018 novel, “The Cabin at the End of the World,” Shyamalan’s “Knock at the Cabin” stars Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldrige as Eric and Andrew, a couple vacationing at a secluded Pennsylvania cabin with their young daughter Wen (Kristen Cui).
The trip goes to hell after Leonard (Dave Bautista) and his associates arrive and hold the family hostage. Leonard explains that Eric, Andrew, or Wen must die to prevent the world from destruction. The cinematography in “Knock at the Cabin” is bold and gorgeous, while Bautista proves he’s more than a brawler with muscles thanks to his nuanced, emotional performance. The ending has divided some fans, but overall, it’s an effective, dread-inducing thriller.
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6. ‘The Village’
In “The Village,” a group of settlers live within the confines of their community, refusing to venture past the village’s borders for fear of the dangerous creatures that inhabit the woods. If the villagers stay out of the woods, the creatures will leave them alone. When Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) suffers a deadly injury, his lover, the blind Ivy Elizabeth Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard), ventures into the woods to secure medical supplies from a nearby town.
The twist ending is one of Shyamalan’s most polarizing, with critics deeming it inferior to his three previous films. However, “The Village” features Shyamlan’s most stacked cast: Howard, Phoenix, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Cherry Jones, and Brendan Gleeson. The actual village is one of Shyamalan’s best settings, featuring spectacular production design and Roger Deakins’ beautiful cinematography.
5. ‘The Visit’
The story behind “The Visit” might be better than the movie, though it’s undoubtedly Shyamalan’s most underrated offering. After the failures of “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth,” Shyamalan found himself in “director’s jail.” Many studios passed on his idea for “The Visit,” a found footage horror about two siblings (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould) spending a weekend at the home of their estranged grandparents (Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie).
Shyamalan ultimately bet on himself by securing a $5 million loan on his Pennsylvania house to fund “The Visit.” The gamble paid off, as “The Visit” grossed nearly $100 million and marked a return to form for Shyamalan. With found footage staples like shaky cameras and memorable close-ups, “The Visit” is arguably Shyamalan’s best genre work, one that does not rely on his affinity for faith and the supernatural. It’s also his funniest film.
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4. ‘Split’
Sixteen years after “Unbreakable,” Shyamalan returned with his unlikely superhero sequel, “Split.” Kevin Wendall Crumb (James McAvoy) is a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder. Some of Kevin's 23 distinct personalities include Dennis, a no-nonsense man with OCD; Patricia, an elderly woman; and Hedwig, a 9-year-old boy. Dennis abducts three teenage girls, one of them being Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy). Every personality warns the girl about the arrival of "The Beast,” the final personality with superhuman strength and speed.
McAvoy delivers a tour de force performance, one of the best in a Shyamalan movie. McAvoy is fearless, charismatic, and legitimately terrifying when he becomes the Beast. Additionally, Shyamalan’s excellent camerawork is on full display, adding to the claustrophobic feeling of the basement. The final reveal of David Dunn became Shyamalan’s best twist since “Signs.”
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3. ‘Signs’
Shyamalan’s top atmospheric horror is “Signs,” his version of an alien invasion movie. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former priest who left the church after the death of his wife in a car accident. After crop circles appear on his farm, Graham initially chalks up to horseplay from intruders. However, Graham and his family — brother Merill (Joaquin Phoenix), son Morgan (Rory Culkin), and daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin) — quickly learn that extraterrestrials have invaded Earth, with one alien setting its sights on the Hess farm.
Shyamalan is firing on all cylinders in “Signs," expertly using sound and light to convey fear and suspense. “Signs” is Shyamalan’s most philosophical movie as he contemplates the loss of faith and how humans use religion to explain incomprehensible events. Shyamalan’s greatest trick is disguising a movie about grief as an alien invasion thriller.
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2. ‘The Sixth Sense’
With all due respect to “Praying with Anger” and “Wide Awake,” the Shyamalan audiences have come to know started with “The Sixth Sense.” In the film, 9-year-old Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) sees dead people, an unexplainable realization that causes him to be ostracized and bullied. Cole’s only ally is Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a grieving child psychologist who helps Cole deal with his ghostly problem. Malcolm deduces that Cole should communicate with the ghosts and help them find peace.
“The Sixth Sense” does not work if Osment does not give a sensational performance, a top-five moment for child actors. The creepy thriller became one of the rare movies to break through with the Academy, garnering six Oscar nominations. For better or worse, the final twist has come to define Shyamalan’s career. It’s still a brilliant twist, but less effective upon each rewatch if you know it’s coming.
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1. Unbreakable’
In today’s society, superhero movies are defined by big budgets, wide-sweeping productions, larger-than-life personas, widely recognized characters, signature costumes, and epic adventures. Shyamalan threw all those tropes out for “Unbreakable,” a superhero origin story that begs the question: What if a superhero lived among the people, but didn’t know he was a superhero? David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the hero in question, the lone survivor of a train crash that killed 131 people.
David is uninjured without a scratch on his body, calling into question how he survived this deadly crash. David questions his place on Earth even more after meeting Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a comic book fanatic who suffers from brittle bone disease. Elijah believes David is a superhero with superhuman strength and indestructibility. This hypothesis forces David to contemplate his gifts and ponder his existence in the world. “Unbreakable” is the best version of a slow burn, taking its time with the plot, saving the twist for the perfect moment. Shyamalan’s quiet, gritty superhero movie is his best film and a standout in the comic book genre.
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