the Visit (2015)

I was totally intrigued by this film when I first saw the trailer. I tend to enjoy spooky films filmed with hand held cameras (the Blair Witch Project – 1999, Paranormal Activity – 2007, Cloverfield – 2008, Quarantine – 2008, District 9 – 2009, the Fourth Kind – 2009, the Last Exorcism – 2010, Chronicle – 2012), and most of the time, they don’t make me sick.

The Visit was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who is very well known in the suspense movie genre. He has written/directed The Sixth Sense (1999), Signs (2002), the Last Airbender (2010), and After Earth (2013). All of which I have seen and enjoyed; yes, even the Last Airbender. He is currently working on writing/directing a movie called, Glass. It is supposed to be a sequel to Unbreakable (2000). The Visit stars Olivia DeJonge (Becca), Ed Oxenbould (Tyler), Deanna Dunagan (Nana), Peter McRobbie (Papa), and Kathryn Hahn (Mom).

The movie follows a brother and sister as mom sends them off to visit her parents for the first time in their lives. Mom goes on a cruise with her boyfriend and Skype’s in every few days. The grandparent’s are sweet, but starting to show their age; not remembering things, incontinence, insomnia, etc. Each day further into the visit Grandma and Grandpa act weirder and weirder. As much as I want to say more, I don’t want to spoil anything else.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this film. I loved the secret behind the grandparents, which I wasn’t expecting. I think they did a good job of showing modern young kids and how resilient they can be. Sometimes I have a hard time writing about these movies because I don’t like to reveal anything. So if you like hand-held camera spooky films, go see it!

 

I give The Visit a 7/10 while Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 5.7/10.