The Village (2004)
7/10
Strange and eerie storytelling about an isolated , quiet village in Pennsylvania stalked by mysterious creatures
18 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
'The Village' . At first glance, this village seems happy , but this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding forests .At night , animals are mysteriously killed and when one man dares to enters the woods , a retaliatory attack sends the astonishing villagers fleeing to their basements . The evil and foreboding force is so unnerving that none dare venture beyond the borders of the village and into the woods. The villagers live simply under the strict leading of a group of veteran people (William Hurt , Sigourney Weaver , Brendan Gleeson , Cherry Jones ,Celia Weston) who forbid them to venture into the neighbouring woods . They talk in fear of those we don't speak of : creatures lurking among the trees ever ready to attack . But when curious, obstinate Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) plans to step beyond the boundaries of the town and into the unknown, his bold move threatens to forever change the future of the village. Their Days Of Peace Are Over . The truce is ending. I: Let the bad color not be seen. It attracts them. II: Never enter the woods. That is where they wait. III: Heed the warning bell, for they are coming.

This eerie and mysterious movie depicts the tale of an isolated town confronting the surprising truth that lies just outside its borders , they live under the control of a few elders until a revelatory twist at the end . M. Night toys with political ideas , but at times , he buries them under an illogical and rather unpredictable tale . Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan got a good feel for the time period, in fact there were nearly 300 people in the scenic and construction department in order to achieve nice settings. Focusing here is on security , self-preservation , frightening to society and conservatism , all key post-9/11 themes , as revealed in the tale of a remote rural community in 1890s America. Main cast and support cast are pretty good , full of young and veteran players such as : William Hurt , Sigourney Weaver , Brendan Gleeson , Cherry Jones , Cherry Jones, Celia Weston , Judy Greer , and of course , Joaquin Phoenix and Adrien Brody . A main draw is the cast as newcomer Bryce Dallas Howard , Ron Howard's daughter , as a visionary blind girl and other young players as Jesse Eisenberg , Michael Pitt, all of them put in great performances .

Well written/produced and directed by Night Shyamalan . The motion picture was well made by Night M Shyamalan , writing , producing and directing , though being some claustrophobic and slow-moving . M. Night delivers his first period piece putting the entire cast through a 19th century "boot camp" at a creepy retelling with several surprises and it took the crew about twelve weeks to build the set for the village. Competently produced by Night Shyamalan himself , many of his films involve pivotal roles with extraordinary abilities or events happening to them and with children always having family problems . Night Shyamalan is an expert on fantastic and Mystery films plenty of Intelligence and thought-provoking issues as proved in : ¨Signs¨ , ¨The village¨ , ¨Lady in water¨ , ¨The Incident¨ , ¨The sixth sense¨ , with exception for an extreme flop as critical as boxoffice : ¨Airbender¨. Shyalaman usually shoots in Philadelphia , this is Shyamalan favorite location . Night is an avid comic books fan , which was made in this film that along with "Unbreakable" , ¨Multiple¨and "Glass" belong to the top-notch trilogy starred by Bruce Willis , Samuel L Jackson and James McAvoy. Rating 7/10 notable . Well worth watching . Better than average .
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