I don't really care what anyone else says... I liked it a lot! The acting was great, and I really enjoyed the story. It giggled several times, I warmed to the two young leads right away, and I was thoroughly creeped out. Nice that the usual trope of older sister/younger brother basically hating each other wasn't there. Their relationship was very sweet and believable. So don't listen to the naysayers... Watch it, and make up your own mind.
[7.6/10] One of the best tacks a horror film can take is rooting its supernatural or outsized sense of terror in something real. That grain of truth at the core of a movie’s scares makes them more vivid and gripping than bare, spooky scenes or the usual collection of ghoulies.
It certainly works to the benefit of The Visit. The film tells the story of two young children, Becca and Tyler, visiting their estranged grandparents for the first time. “Pop Pop” and “Nana” behave strangely, rumbling and being ill in the middle of the night or sneaking out to a mysterious shed, in a way that unnerves their grandchildren.
The smartest choice the film makes is to walk the line between whether this is the sign of something sinister or wrong, or whether it’s simply a combination of dementia and unfamiliarity that’s disturbing the kids. It’s a horror movie, so it’s not hard to guess how things play out, but the film gains strength by playing with that ambiguity. Outside the confines of a Hollywood picture, kids can have trouble relating to their grandparents, understanding the physical and mental challenges their elders are going through. Using that natural anxiety, that natural misunderstanding, both serves as a means to muddy the waters of What’s Really Going On, and to elevate the frightening qualities of when Nana and Pop Pop are acting out.
If there’s a smarter choice, however, it’s in the casting of the two young leads who carry the film. Olivia DeJonge plays Becca, the older sibling who is a budding director, out to document this momentous and fraught family occasion, with a combination of precociousness and vulnerability. Ed Oxenbould plays Tyler, Becca’s colorful, freestyle-rapping little brother, who makes for an amusingly free-wheeling yin to Becca’s very deliberate yang.
Centering a movie around kids is hard, as the challenges of finding the core of a character and maintaining it from beginning to end can be difficult for young actors. But DeJonge and Oxenbould both give their characters a sense of realness in their childlike reactions to the world around them, but also deliver the emotional layers to that experience to make them compelling figures and not just props in this drama.
Much of that comes from the script penned by the famed/notorious M. Night Shyamalan, who also directs the film. He too captures the inquisitive, precious spirit of childhood, while making Becca and Tyler easy characters to become endeared to and fear for. The film also features one of Shyamalan’s tightest scripts. As much as Shyamalan takes time out to be a little loose and show the kids being kids, helping to establish character and tone, he also dots every “i” and crosses every “t” in terms of setting up the mystery and providing plausible hints, convincing red herrings, and a solid build to the truth about what’s happening with their grandparents.
If anything, the film’s narrative is a little too neat. Emotional beats or noted characteristics come back into play at just the right moment, to the point that the viewer can see the strings of why some detail or story was told in the prelude. The plot never feels too convenient, but at times it moves like it’s on rails.
The same cannot be said, however, for the cinematography. Shyamalan employs the “found footage” conceit here, and it gives him a chance to use perspective and the verisimilitude of that choice to accentuate his scares. More than anything, it allows us to better know Becca and Tyler. If we’re not literally seeing their perspective, hearing their voice and seeing their point-of-view from behind the camera, then we see them in confessionals, opening up in the piercing way only a camera lens can admit.
Shyamalan uses that choice -- having the kids “filming” almost all of the movie, for both terror and fun. The hand-held conceit turns a simple game of hide and seek, or a chance encounter with a bystander on a visit to an old high school, into terrifying episodes, filled with crawling figures or troubling confrontations. But it also gives Tyler the chance to goof off in front of the camera in the way a ten year old would, or for Becca to amusingly wax rhapsodic over not wanting to be too intentional in her zooms and cuts, with Shyamalan clearly having a good time poking fun at his profession through the eyes of the child.
The only problem, then, is that once Shyamalan has laid down that initial layer of humor and creepiness, the inevitable reveal leads to a bit of the air coming out of the picture rather than the terror being heightened. Once the scales fall and the ambiguity is no longer there to goose the scares, the film becomes more stock in its horror, and the emotional climaxes coincide with the horror climaxes a little too easily.
Still, The Visit isn’t content to merely offer a snootful of well-crafted horror and an endearing, if frightening kid adventure. There’s a heavily-underlined but potent theme about acceptance and processing anger for those who’ve hurt us, particularly family members. The film isn’t shy in the way it connects the feelings of Becca and Tyler’s mom (Kathryn Hahn, who makes a strong impression in just a little bit of screentime) toward the parents she hasn’t spoken to in a decade and a half, with Becca and Tyler’s own feelings about their absentee dad. As with the scary side of the movie, The Visit pays both of these internal challenges a little too easily, but still convincingly.
It’s hard not to draw comparisons with Shyamalan’s breakthrough film, The Sixth Sense, give both movies’ use of talented child actors and themes of making peace with difficult parts of our lives, but The Visit stands on its own. It’s a tidier film, more self-contained, more human and unvarnished, with its single-location focus and more conventional scares. And it finds the sweet spot between the real things that unnerve us, and the grander horrors of the screen, to make an effective vignette about two kids finding their way through one uncertain situation and resolving another.
After (unintentionally ) missing the last few M. Night Shymalan movies & then finding out this was going to be yet another 'found footage'/shaky camera horror, I didn't really have high hopes for this movie but I watched it anyway with an open mind.
I started this movie not expecting anything interesting but found myself really enjoying it throughout. Scarier than I thought a 'horror comedy' would be with some jump scares that rival the tenser moments in more serious movies. I thought the film managed to keep you on your toes and the story wasn't boring which most horror movies are these days. It actually went somewhere and has 'rewatch' value (much like an Shymalan movie i suppose).
The 2 main characters don't really come across as like-able, with 'T Diamond Stylus' being the definition of irritating.
None the less, the film managed to pull off everything it wanted to achieve & probably more. One of the best horror films i've seen this year, comedy or not.
This is just stupid. The only thing I found amazing about the whole thing was that I watched it all! I kept waiting for something intriguing to happen... and it just ended.
every single "found footage" style has people saying that ; they are either tiered of it, or don´t like it / understand it.
It´s me that don´t understand why you guys bother. i mean, i don´t like musicals,so I don´t watch them ( if for some reason im forced to see one, i surely will not bash it for obvious reasons) .
Found footage is here to stay. Either you like or or not. I love them. some are bad, some are good others extraordinary. a bit like all genres and sub-genres ;)
The twist is obvious and telegraphed throughout, but this is still an effective film and something of a return to form for Shyamalan. His two likeable young leads, particularly Oxenbould, ensure the film's slow build doesn't become dull as the film hits all the usual beats of the genre. Shyamalan manages to come up with a fairly reasonable justification for the documentary style footage that the film purports to be made up of, but, as usual with films involving the characters carrying cameras around, it can't quite overcome the suspension of disbelief required to believe they wouldn't simply drop them in the final act. In any event, he doesn't let this style constrain the film and he manages to create some very effective creepy moments that remind you of how good he was in his earlier work.
I am tired of Found Footage films but the Visit is much better than movies like the Gallows at least. But due to talented kid actors and creepy grandparents.
There's usually robotic emotionless acting in M. Night Shyamalan movies that I guess is what he asks for. For once the performances are more human and less lifeless.
The film is creepy but slows down in the middle when the kids talk about their father and personal feelings about him leaving. Which doesn't work since they don't seem too concerned about their grandparents weird behavior at the time.
Holy shit! This movie scared the life out of me. Brilliant BRILLIANT casting, you better not have those grandparents. The scene under the house was a crazy scary but the scariest part was probably when she crawls out from under there and giggles as if nothing happened. I tried to put the plot together throughout the entire movie and it was a welcome surprise to have it be a realistic plot twist rather than what I thought were two possessed grandparents.
I felt like I had the same 'aha!' moment as all of the characters during that skypecall with mom. Everything fell into place there
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes jump scares and a good plot twist.
I dont know why people hated this movie..Yes the plot could be better but its was a HORROR movie and a surely a good one..I suggest all horror lovers to see this movie..
It's a very obvious movie, kind of cringeworthy because of all the rapping and the kid spewing out pseudointellectual non-crap, but I nevertheless enjoyed it. People need to loosen up and know how to enjoy a movie, I wouldn't trust reviews online because they are always going on about small things that the average viewer would never notice; afterall, I watch these movies for fun, and not to analyze them and tear them apart from the inside out.
The Visit was quite enjoyable. I am a fan of found footage movies, though!
While many movies tend to bore with unoriginal plots, this one was original at least! Also I found the acting very good. The two child actors surprised me as they did a good job
Wait, what? This movie was great! As always, it's hard to find an excuse to use the "found footage" argument, but the documentary story was kinda decent. The kids, especially the boy, were pretty good written and acted. The Shyamalan twist was right in the time, and the ending was so hilarious, but not distracting the previously horror. C'mon guys! this is the best of Shyamalan in a looooong time, let's enjoy it.
Well, the kids were really good. That's it, though.
Horror is not all demons, agitating music and jump scares.. It's an idea that makes us believe that it's actually plausible, this movie gets that right. OK it ain't no midsommar but a must watch film!!
Simple, in the style of "live footage", and yet you don't have to invent "ghosts" to make the film successful. :)
Streamed via Hulu (FXM)
That's just awful! It's so predictible, 15 minutes in and I already know what's really happening. Felt so dull, the comedy was supposed to break the tension but there's no tension at all. I didn't really care about those two kids, or any characters because they're not convincing enough. The humor was irritating and the rapping parts were insufferable. I stayed because of Kathryn Hahn! The only funny moment is when the kid got poop shoved in his face. Overall I didn't enjoy it, it failed to blend horror and comedy. I think the final result would be better if they make it pure horror, but I appreciate the concept and filmmaking.
At the beginning, the film looked quite interesting, about how the siblings find out that there is something strange about their grandparents and they document everything on their camera. As time goes on, however, the film becomes more and more stupid and boring, where basically nothing much happens, and only at the very end there is a bit of action where we learn the whole plot of the film, which was clear from the beginning, and we will not see any unexpected and interesting ending either. Unfortunately, this film does not offer much horror scenes, and the fact that I should be afraid of this film is not at all. For my disappointment, I actually expected a little more from this horror movie.
Spent far too long to develop characters and supposedly tense. The climax was dull and uninspired, no thrill, just a reveal and exposition of what should've been obvious. The kids are good, acted like real annoying kids, but everything else is dumb and doesn't match with the tone. Especially the ending.
Sorry, but can I please have the time I wasted on this back? The only reason I kept watching was because I hoped the movie would somehow get better.
To everyone who is thinking about watching this: I would rather eat Glass than watch this movie again.
Terrible & a complete waste of time.
the plot twist is well-thought (the fact that they are not their grandparents) but what a terrible way of conducting to and from this
A complete dud, seriously. There was a whole lot of build up for very little pay off, you spend the first forty five minutes of the movie thinking that incontinence and dementia are Shyamalan's idea of horror, and then when it finally gets scary, you're robbed of it so quickly its just depressing. Basically never trust anything Shyamalan does, he completely lost it when he butchered Avatar: The Last Airbender, and everything past that proves he sucks. When it was scary it was almost worth it, but don't recommend.
Not a bad start, but then it gets worse and worse documentary style it even more, Shyamalan cheats to get his turn
Did anyone else really want the kids to die?
Huge piece of crap. Please, don't spend any time to see this terrible movie.
This movie is one of the worst I've ever seen in this genre. Don't waste your time like i did.
ok yes it was bad, the twist is ridiculous and the whole premise is awful, perhaps 4 is a bit too much
Crap storyline, illogical tracking shots of clouds that don't fit in the style of the movie and a "twist" that you can see coming from a mile away. Further proof that M. Night Shyamalan should stick to telling his made up fairytales to his kids and stop making movies for the general public.
My score: 2 - Terrible
Cheap plot, slow tempo, no thrills or goosebumps whatsoever...
Kids did good job, although too much rapping in horror movie for my taste...
Not to mention that found footage movies are no more innovative directing as they were in the beginning of that wave,
now it is a crutch for bad script and lousy director...
More and more I am convinced that Shyamalan was one-time wonder...
Time to put him to greener pastures...
I'd like to point out that this movie is trying to call itself a "comedic, horror", But after seeing this movie, the only comedic horror that you've been viewing, is M. Night Shyamalan's movie career.
This was just painful. I would have loved to been there when this story was pitched, by M Night
Now that "The Visit" seems to be considered a respectable return to form for M. Night Shyamalan, it doesn't take a lot of guts to say that I really think he's a great director. "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" are absolutely great movies and "Signs" is one of my all-time favorites. It's a film that scores a rare perfect 10 to me. I even like "The Village" quite a lot.
And another thing...I love the art of the "twist". Watching a movie or TV show and having the rug pulled out from under me is one of my favorite treats. I love the "Twilight Zone", Alfred Hitchcock and any other writer or director that can flip a story on its ear. Here's the kicker with enjoying the art of the twist...you don't spend time trying to figure it out before it happens. Let it come to you. Don't waste your time trying to be smarter than the storyteller. Just let it happen.
Now, Shyamalan is known mostly for these twists in his films. It dominates the fact that his work looks stunning and overshadows the gift he has in bringing out great performances, at least in his early films. I've never seen "After Earth" or "The Last Airbender", but I don't consider him being anything other than Director-for-Hire regarding these two movies.
I knew absolutely nothing about "The Visit" going in. In fact, I didn't even know that Shyamalan was releasing a film of his own until about two weeks before it hit the theaters. Once I found out, I purposely avoided all trailers, advertising, everything. This was my hope...that "The Visit" be another great Horror/Thriller movie that I know he can make. Yeah, yeah. I know "The Happening" was his Horror effort and I think it could have been much better if Wahlberg and Deschanel hadn't been cast. What a weird vibe that movie had.
Sadly, I don't consider "The Visit" to be a return to the genre. "The Visit" is a dark comedy. It's got a few jump scares and provides opportunities for some nervous laughter. It also has a great twist, which was the most enjoyable part of the movie for me. All things considered though, this is not ever going to be something I will add to my list of Shyamalan favorites. It's just trying too hard to be clever. The found footage style, the kid that raps...it all just seems to cater to people that he's trying to impress. I don't get the feeling that he made a film aimed at his core audience. The audience that knows what a great filmmaker he can be. And that is very disappointing to me.
Ultimately, I liked "The Visit" and was encouraged to hear theater goers talk of how much they enjoyed it as they left their seats. If the regular movie watching public likes it enough to keep Shyamalan working, I might get a great Horror or Thriller film out of him again.
Well, actually I like the idea very much. Getting old is very scary: loosing physical power, dementia, generation gap, friends' funerals, being abandoned... This topic is so scareful that it is almost tabooed in entertainment - nobody wants even to talk about it. If only this was given to somebody intelligent, it could be a solid, multidimentional 'Babadook'-style movie, that scares disturbingly deeply, existentially. Of course, the main characters should not be children - the old doesn't scare them yet, only disgusts. And the ending should be different, because nobody can escape the time...
But we've got Shyamalan.
Sometimes I wonder if he really thinks his movies are good, or he just doesn't care.
I'd heard this was a return to form for Shyamalan, but this was awful and an incredibly disappointing waste of time.
None of the people in this film talk even remotely like real people, ruining any chance of experiencing even a minute of immersion. Every scene intended to be scary or tense ends up feeling incredibly forced, artificial and in some cases unintentionally amusing.
I could've done without that irritating rapping little shit too.
It gets 3 points for the twist, which I didn't see coming. Lame, but creepy. Oh, and I'm not buying an oven big enough to crawl in... ever.
Where the hell is the shyamalan of The Sixth Sense, unbreakable, signals...
One point for this... This... Thing!
The Visit, for all of the s**t it throws in the audience's face, is surprisingly boring. 90 minutes feels like an eternity in this tonally confused mess.
I don’t look at myself in the mirror cause my dad abandoned me? lmao
I guess only M Night Shyamalan can make a movie in which a kid gets tortured by having a used adult diaper shoved in their face, then have the kid rap about the experience.
All the Comic Relief moments in the movie made it so much more disturbing, but not in a good horror movie way, just... weird.
I still found it rather creepy and suspenseful, even subtly chilling for the most part (which I would not have thought possible in a recent Shyamalan flick), but the whole "mentally ill people are the monsters and act like their not human" thing is getting old.
To start this review off, I'm not a fan of horror movie. I don't like it but I went to see this one (which is a semi horror) because its made by M. Night Shyamalan, who made great movies like Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.
Oke, this movie was weird for me. Nevertheless I was interested most of the time mainly due to the weirdness and camera perspective. The whole film is showed for the camera held by the main characters. Which makes the scenes 'not perfect' and different compared to other movies. Of course there are more movies who tried to work with the hand held camera style but they did it realistic and great. The two main children in this movie did a really good job. It didn't felt like they were acting and felt natural. That was pretty impressive. The rest of the cast is also fine.
Next up I will try to explain the 'weirdness' of this movie and that is the story and the characters. The characters felt really weird to me and thats kinda what they are. But it felt over the top with not enough motive for their behavior. Sometimes it felt that they did things only to scare the audiences. Not that the movie was full of jump scares, because they tried to building suspense which was oke. But I couldn't get in to the story that much. Overall the movie was great for a filmmaker point of view but as a viewer I didn't liked it that much. Nevertheless I had a interesting time with this movie which isn't my cup of tea!
A great found footage movie, although this one doesn't have the raw aesthetic, as the camera has a very clean, filtered image and more stable framing.
The story is very good, it's not predictable, there are some great twists and some scares throughout, and the performances also stand out, making everything more engaging.
It cracks me up to see the reviews that are complaining about how the mom didn’t get arrested and blah blah blah. I think those people forgot that this is a movie. After all there is no way in hell an old lady could run and crawl like that. Lol! I personally thought this was one of M. Night Shyamalan’s better movies. It had a few good jump scenes, and it was pretty creepy.
boring ass movie fr fr
so you mean to tell me someone will send their kids to their estranged grandparents without showing them any picture of them and just told them "follow the elders"?
M. Night Shyamalan tries his hand at the found footage genre with the creepy suspense thriller The Visit. The story follows two kids who are sent to spend a few days with their grandparents while their mother is on a couples cruise, but the kids start to grow concerned and frightened as their grandparents begin to exhibiting strange and disturbing behavior. The conceit of the daughter being an aspiring film student who’s documenting the experience of meeting her grandparents and discovering her mother’s childhood home works. And Olivia DeJonge gives a good performance that feels authentic and compelling. Her co-star (Ed Oxenbould) however, is toxic; as he’s annoying as all get-out, begging to be slapped. Also, the pacing is rather slow, and the mystery can be kind of aggravating until the reveal. While The Visit is effective at bringing the horror, it doesn’t quite work due to some of its storytelling and casting issues.
How did they have no wifi but then regularly make Skype calls…?
this movie is so bad, 90 minutes of boring shit with a predictable ending, a unrealistic mother, really dislikable children and the worst rapping i have ever heard
so much of this movie is badly written and non-sensical, the scenes drag on for too long, the entire plot could have been told in 20 minutes and it would have been a better movie
night lost his touch, he hasnt done anything good in ages, he should just stop and let his career die instead of dragging her corpse on and on trying to revive it
A visit to Grandma's house wont ever be the same after watching this flick
Acting is good all around, twists are kinda obvious, not really scary although creepy in a funny way. Enjoyed the concept although the mother didn't seem very realistic I mean that or she's just a terrible mother, definitely better than a handful of other M. Night Shyamalan movies.
Very creepy and kinda hilarious. I loved the found footage style. Ed Oxenbould is the great. He brings a lot of humor to even out the creepy parts. One of M. Night's better movies.
There's not a lot of horror in this movie and even the thriller part is minimal – but at least there's some suspense on how the story will end. At some point though you have a suspicion and surprise: you're right.
The format is from an interesting viewpoint from the kids' cameras but somehow it doesn't feel that "natural" on how I feel I would have use the cameras as a child. There's some plot holes but otherwise it's fine.
Don't listen to the comments, it was an enjoyable movie and quite funny.
It was creepy and actually not so bad that all are saying, but it's not the best movie either. It was not bad acted and it had kinda interesting story and some funny and creepy moments.
I liked it, but I can see why people would not like it.
This was just amazing movie. Great acting from Olivia De Jong and Ed Oxenbould. Also Peter MacRobble as Pop-Pop and especially Deanna Dunagan as Nana was just great. I do not know what other people were expecting from this but I knew almost nothing about the movie before watching and for me that has always worked the best way. As a horror and thriller movie fan I think this is one of the best in 2015. There may be few better but this was worth to watch.
Shout by WesleyBlockedParentSpoilers2015-10-02T20:34:47Z
This movie sucked so bad. In real life this mom would lose custody of her children due to neclagence.
Police officer:"How did you not recognize that these crazy people werent your parents when you first dropped your kids off ma'am???"
Mom:"Aint nobody got time fo dat!!! I dropped them at the train station and made them do the trip ALONE. I didnt even call my parents to find out if they arrived safetly... I only took the word of my children talking to them through SKYPE.. I had a boat cruise with my name on it and man wait for no lonely woman! Im not gonna let my kids steal the little youth I have left to get laid and possibly getting a new hubby. I wanted to get pounded!"