'The Visit' is not a return to form for M. Night Shyamalan
Universal
It's really, really not.
The reality is that if "The Visit" were made by a less notable filmmaker, nobody would be talking about it. It's a second-rate, micro-budget found-footage flick and nothing more.
It's set up as a homemade documentary, with two kids (Becca and Tyler) going off to visit their estranged grandparents whom they've never met before. The trip quickly turns into a horror show as the grandparents' bizarre nighttime rituals give the kids reason to investigate.
The film's most glaring problem is that its two child leads are, in a word, unbearable. It's no fault of the actors, and they're actually quite good in their roles, but the script does them zero favors.
Universal
Even worse is Becca's slightly younger brother Tyler, an aspiring rapper who isn't embarrassed to spit rhymes in front of anyone who'll listen. It's incredibly awkward to watch him freestyle terribly the first time, and Shyamalan forces the poor kid to do it repeatedly.
"The Visit" goes for way more laughs than scares which gives the film a tonal imbalance that never skews too far toward either side. The humor would be fine if it were actually amusing, but considering all the "laughs" stem from the rather obnoxious protagonists and their proclivities, it's more loathsome than anything else.
If you were on the fence about whether or not this was a comedy, the scene splayed over the end credits should answer that question definitively.
Additionally, all of Shyamalan's attempts to emotionally resonate are squandered by the fact that the entire conceit of the movie is just too half-baked. The flimsy set-up hangs by a thread -- these kids have never met their grandparents before, but why? The film attempts to answer this, but I almost wish it hadn't considering the explanation couldn't be more of an afterthought.
Universal
A well-placed MacGuffin is one thing, but purposefully misleading your audience only to pull the rug out from under them with no logical explanation is just lazy storytelling. While the patented Shyamalan twist here is actually a pretty good one, it still hammers home the fact that M. Night is still a one trick pony.
"The Visit" is a bizarre movie with a wildly inconsistent tone. There are not enough scares to recommend it as a horror film, and its sense of humor is too juvenile to skate by on laughs only.
Considering the film was made for only $5 million, it will already be majorly profitable by its opening night. "The Visit" will likely mark the beginning of a new era of shoestring budget films for Shyamalan, but the jury's still out on whether or not that's a good thing.
Watch the trailer below.
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