2021, M Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable) -- download
Anywayz, his last horror movie The Visit was wonderful so I was looking forward to what he would do again in the genre. And its October, so, yay!
This is back to the atmospheric and exquisite direction ala Hitchcock, with a story just above a Twilight Zone level mystery but some pretty decent performances; and some terrible ones. It's not a great movie, but I really enjoyed it, as expected. Yes, I forgive the guy a lot, but he does things in a way that pleases me, so I get out of the movie what I want.
A family in distress is invited to a resort in Mexico, one of those all-inclusives that prides itself on anticipating your every whim. The first hint of discontent is the German host. Why is that a hint? Well do Germans run tropical resorts, or more precisely, do Germans in movies ever run resorts? Along with our primary family, who are doing one last family vacation before separating, there is also secondary family made up of the Older Doctor (Rufus Sewel, Dark City) and the too young, too skinny, too beautiful wife (Abbey Lee, Mad Max: Fury Road), their child and his disapproving elderly mother. Almost immediately, rather than being lumped in with all the other guests, creepy German Host (Gustaf Hammersten, Lords of Chaos) offers them an off-resort experience, a beach completed isolated, away from most of the guests. No amenities, no activities, just beach and sun. And Mr. Shyamalan, the resort shuttle driver, drops them off, the two mentioned families, with a lot of food. And quickly departs.
Primary Family Mom (Vicky Krieps, Beckett) has a tumor, something they also tell the kids, who are six and eleven, after the trip. Primary Dad (Gael Garcia Bernal, The Motorcycle Diaries) is a bit of a weaksauce, an actuary more focused on his numbers than the emotional distress his wife is suffering. Their kids are aware, and probably knows what is going to happen after the vacation. But they are a nice family; we like them.
Meanwhile Old Doctor is going through something himself, but is angry when anyone brings it up. Young Wife is uber-Karen, and doesn't mind when a lone Black Man -- rapper Mid-Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierce, Krypton; I love fake rapper names), who was already sitting on the beach when everyone else arrived, casually glances at her. Old Doctor is immediately jealous. And probably a little racist. And then more guests arrive.
Much of the movie is dedicated to setting up the characters, before the Oldness is even noticed. There are slight hints that almost all are going through... something. Its made clear, but not in a pushy way, a deliberate action Shyamalan takes as we explore who we are working with. And then there is the beach itself, as creepy and brightly smiling as the German Host. It is enclosed by a mass of sheer cliffs, entered by a narrow crack. All the encroaching plant life seems to just end at a certain point, not dead, just ... gone. There is definitely something about this section of the beach that separates it from all else.
It doesn't take long for the aging process to be noticed, especially when the two smallest children sprout up over an hour. There are hints of everyone being constantly hungry, but the growing children just ... gorge. The process is (visibly) slower with the already older, of course. And anyone who suffers any sort of condition suddenly sees it progressing. Old Doctor's dementia gives him more paranoia and obsessive behaviour, his mother's heart gives out, Family Car's blood disorder just never stops bleeding. The second act is focused on understanding what is going on.
Of course, nobody can leave the beach. The horror is that everyone is trapped here, with about a day left to live. The youngest kids probably would get until the next day but it is all about that that day. Not a lot of pure horror (jump scares, gore, etc.) things happen, most are just minor shocks, and one utterly gruesome death, which is more comical than horror-filled. The horror has to come from being tied to the characters and knowing what becomes them, that dread filled anticipation...
But like the best Twilight Zone episodes, there is a resolution, not just a brooding end to all the lives. It was an unexpected "happy ending" if any such could be. I have always pondered on the endings of such horror movies where one or a few survivors make it through. What can their lives be like afterwards, how do they ever live normal lives. Do they write best selling memoirs? Do they do the talk show circuit? Do they hide themselves away never overcoming the trauma? Sometimes just being the survivor is not the best ... ending.
The baby dying from neglect after being put aside for literally a minute while the mother was tended to, was the saddest, most horrific thing.
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