Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver
Rating: [2.5/5]
Controlling the behavior of others truly comes down to the carrot and stick analogy in the way desire and fear dictate why people do what they do. When incentivization does not work, the idea of fear does the trick just about every time and is something The Village tries to tackle but does so in such a laborious manner that makes it difficult to enjoy even if bought into what it seeks to accomplish. In other words, it’s the makings of yet another M. Night Shyamalan film.
In a remote village in Pennsylvania, a community lives surrounded by woods with the expectation to never venture out because different creatures inhabit the woods. If a villager travels out, it would anger said creatures who would then attack the town. As one of the villagers, Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) seeks to go out to obtain medical supplies, the elders make it clear he cannot.
From its initial release, The Village captivated a 9-year-old Josh with the prospect of watching a monster movie. Displaying a red good and intriguing design based on what could be seen, it had the promise of something entertaining at the least. 9-year-old Josh certainly did not know exactly what he was getting himself into, which initially shocked me in the direction it went. As with any M. Night Shyamalan, the twist and its execution will mostly dictate how one feels about the project as a whole. For years, I held the opinion of not liking this film because of my hatred of the twist as a child, which meant a reappraisal when I hit adulthood was mandatory to give the film a fair shot and while I can certainly appreciate what M. Night Shyamalan wants to do with the overall message of the story, it still does not quite cut the mustard for me.
When speaking on control and the manipulation of an entire society by a handful of people through the mere idea of the danger of the unknown, you can convince these people of anything. How this reflects our contemporary society does not need much attention because of the obvious. When looking at what this film seeks to accomplish on paper, it certainly has the makings of something cogent and worth dissecting but as is the case for the majority of M. Night Shyamalan’s duds, the execution ultimately lets it down. We have these high concepts with limitless potential but it gets hampered by what we see on-screen leaving for an overall disappointing experience, which The Village remains for me.
This mostly transpires with the pacing of the film and how it languishes in this village, which has the intention of building out this community, and exactly how the twist could make for quite a shock. The pacing utilized here makes the first act quite unbearable to sit through in addition to the third where it never builds any sense of momentum through its storytelling where by the time we reach the climax and the conclusion it just overstays its welcome by a longshot. It never quite comes together for me in the way it should and because all of the potential sits there on the surface, it makes what we receive all the more disappointing.
On a technical level, there’s plenty to appreciate about The Village. In particular, we have a James Newton Howard score and cinematography by Roger Deakins happening here, which only indicate good things. The way Shyamalan and Deakins collaborate in illustrating this world and the way these colors clash with their environment make this world incredibly textured. Moments in the woods look absolutely stunning, especially when we have the forbidden use of the color red in the village. It only makes when it pops with the creature design or the red paint all the more striking. These elements undoubtedly shine in this film and cannot be taken away from it.
Even to this day, The Village remains one of the most head-scratching films I’ve ever seen, which makes Shyamalan an enigmatic filmmaker for me. The man pieces together such a wonderful concept for a film where the twist works out to further emphasize the entire point of this exercise but in the end, how it all comes together leaves plenty to be desired. There are certainly elements of the film that work well but as a whole, it disappoints.
Films with Josh 
