The Decline and Fall of M. Night Shyamalan
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 11:11PM 
Hi, Tim here. This weekend sees the release of After Earth, the latest of 2013’s surprisingly well-stocked slate of post-apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers, starring Will and Jaden Smith. These are all things that are proudly trumpeted by the ad campaign. What is conspicuously not trumpeted, proudly or otherwise, is the identity of the film’s director M. Night Shyamalan, who for the first time since his gigantic 1999 breakthrough The Sixth Sense is not mentioned by name in the ad campaign for his latest feature.
This is, undoubtedly, because Shyamalan been steadily pissing away audience goodwill almost since the moment he started earning it, with each new film he’s made being widely regarded as worse than the one preceding it (a steady downward trend on Metacritic, down with just a single blip up on Rotten Tomatoes). With After Earth appearing to flatten or slightly reverse this trend, it’s as good a time as any to explore the exact shape of Shyamalan’s fall in such a relatively short time, trying to figure out exactly how the man anointed as “The Next Spielberg” at a tender age ended up becoming one of modern cinephilia’s greatest punchlines.
THE SIXTH SENSE (1999): Wunderkind
The 29-year-old’s third feature turned out to be a massive hit, landing Best Picture and Best Director Oscar nominations. While his urban ghost story really isn’t that good, it holds up well, despite all the clichés and bad habits that started right here (the twist ending especially): it builds up spooky atmosphere terrifically well, and it has a resolutely smart visual language. Sure, most of what makes the film work was aped from established directors and classic movies, but skillfull mimicry is still, well, skillful. Some of the luster has been knocked off the movie in the intervening years, but in some ways, it seems even more impressive now, given what we know about the limitations of Shyamalan’s talent.
UNBREAKABLE (2000): Blank Check
A film ahead of its time: if it had come out 10 years later, in the thick of the superhero boom, it might have seemed boldly revisionist, instead of weirdly unfocused. That said, relying for the second time on Bruce Willis paid off well for Shyamalan: his story of an everyday working class man of steel has a weathered fleshiness that only a middle-aged Willis could provide. Whether the film can be called entirely successful, or not (speaking personally, I find it lacks narrative momentum), it is definitely unique, the kind that comes when a talented young filmmaker gets a free pass from a big success: idiosyncratic, speaking to deeply personal interests, trying to do something different. If it’s a misfire, it’s a forgivable one.
SIGNS (2002): Brand Name
The final Shyamalan film generally regarded as good, its biggest strength is also its biggest problem: its best parts are copied from other, better filmmakers, primarily Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. It’s thematically overweening, dragging a deeply felt message about religious faith into its by-the-numbers alien invasion thriller. That kind of marriage can work, it takes a bolder filmmaker with fresher ideas than Shyamalan, who had apparently learned the wrong lessons from the cool reception of Unbreakable: stick within a straightforward genre, and mimic other directors’ technique, even when it doesn’t necessarily fit the story you’re trying to tell. Certainly, the film’s successes as a thriller only throw into sharp relief the wobbliness of the human story.
THE VILLAGE (2004): One-Trick Pony
Not much is truly wrong with this movie, the one where Shyamalan’s reputation finally tanked: the biggest problem is its ridiculous twist ending, which might have worked at the end of a 24-minute Twilight Zone episode but feels cheap and smarmy as the climax of a feature film. Outside of that, though (and by no means is that a little thing) The Village boasts reasonably strong visuals (the use of color recalls The Sixth Sense), and so far as it’s a horror film, it’s a pretty solid one. The stilted, old-timey dialogue is a huge problem, undoubtedly, and a couple dreadful performances make the whole seem worse than it really is. But the film’s biggest sin is that of a director finally lapsing into self-copying, with the typical draining of enthusiasm that comes with it.
LADY IN THE WATER (2006): God Complex
The film’s toxic reception can be blamed on two terrible elements: first was retaliating for the poor reviews for The Village by making this film’s villain a shrill strawman of a literary critic. The other was Shyamalan casting himself in the Christ-like role of a writer in a metaphor for how wonderful stories – like this one, goes the implication – can save humanity, or something. Seven years after The Sixth Sense provided the kind of notices that any young director would kill to have, it would appear that Shyamalan hadn’t given up on the idea that he was unbelievably special, and the arrogance in this film is its most off-putting trait, followed by the murkiness of its exposition; but at the very least, Shyamalan still had a decent eye for memorable imagery.
THE HAPPENING (2008): Losing It
Then he lost that eye. Part of that is due to the hokey-as-hell script he stuck himself with: killer plants driving people insane! And it would take an impeccably talented filmmaker, not just a gifted mockingbird, to make the sight of trees blowing in the wind look as terrifying as The Happening desperately needs them to. In every previous one of his films, Shyamalan was able to use strong technique to paper over the dubious contrivances of his scenarios, but in this case, the contrivance marches up front and center, and it’s hard to think about anything beyond how damn hokey the whole thing is. Getting dreadful performances out of Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel at her all-time glassiest certain doesn’t help matters.
THE LAST AIRBENDER (2010): Incompetence
Working for the first time from a pre-existing story might have been a step in the right direction; it was the only one. Not only did Shyamalan coax first-timer Noah Ringer into giving one of the all-time worst performances in the history of child actors, he did it in the midst of his first outright ugly movie (shot by the reliably picturesque Andrew Lesnie, no less), as hapless camera angles and unreadable dialogue jostled for prominence in what ends up feeling like the world’s most expensive middle school drama club video. What could lead a formerly talented filmmaker to such depths as this is impossible to guess: far from the stylist who created such atmosphere in his early films, even as the scripts got worse and worse, the visuals here actively conspire to make the ill-expressed story even harder to follow.
And this brings us back to 2013, and After Earth, Shyamalan’s first project from a previously written screenplay. Having finally turned into a journeyman director can only be a step in the right direction, as whatever sense of infallibility that crept into the director’s work from all that early praise and led him into such indulgent, failed stories will hopefully be scrubbed out. It would nice to have the director of The Sixth Sense back, because popcorn movies with that much class and creativity are always in demand.
Reader Comments (40)
in what other profession is such continuing incompetence rewarded with ongoing employment?
While I agree that Shyamalan has long since squandered any goodwill he had and everything went quickly downhill after "Signs" (which itself wasn't that good of a movie), I will always defend "Sixth Sense". I was lucky enough to see it in the theaters after catching some of the "I see dead people" commercials on TV. Me and my best friend went to see it knowing nothing about it other than the commercials. I thought it was going to be a scary movie, and at times, it was. But it was also a very involving character study about a little boy with a horrific "gift", and I was mesmerized. And then came the ending. I did not know there was a twist. I was not expecting a twist. And when the twist came, I was blown away. When I saw it again later, I was pleasantly surprised at how very well it held up, and while the surprise ending was no longer a surprise, I still enjoyed the movie a lot.
I honestly think "Sixth Sense" has been diminished in the years since because 1) it was so incredibly popular, 2) it became such an easy target for ridicule ("I see stupid people", etc.), but most of all 3) Shyamalan never wrote or directed another movie comparable in quality to it, so people ignore their original perceptions of it and begin to think of it as just as bad as his future movies. But I remember sitting in the theater, watching it, being scared, being upset, getting emotional and even crying at one point, and then being completely blown away by the surprise ending.
"Sixth Sense" was a good movie. Judging it retroactively by the director's later work isn't fair or rational.
Just 10 years ago, in between M Night and Ben Affleck, who could have guess correctly which one would go on to direct a Best Picture?!
I think M Night should go back to film school, no seriously, the scope and scale of a film-school project is what he should tackle next.
I have yet to see SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS for various reasons, but I did see and really liked UNBREAKABLE. The only other film of his I saw was THE VILLAGE and after that I couldn't really bring myself to see any of his other films.
I think THE SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS are fantastic. The latter actually frightened me. Very effective.
THE LADY IN THE WATER has some fun elements - i love a puzzle solving flick - but its issues are obvious and stick out. Same goes for THE VILLAGE, which has some great elements but which never gel well enough.
THE HAPPENING was, above all, boring. Never saw AIRBENDER. Seeing AFTER EARTH tomorrow for work. As somebody who doesn't hate Shyamalan that much, it's the Smith father and son thing that's making me want to stab hot pokers in my eyes.
Nice article, and it is really is a fascinating topic. The Sixth Sense is still my favorite film (of all time, even if it is incredibly uncool to admit such thing). And yes, I think it holds up very well even knowing the twist ending. The fact that it contains two Oscar-worthy performances ina plot that would still be very gut-wrenching without any supernatural elements is what makes it perfect in my eyes. Olivia Williams was also quite underrated here.
Then I also really like Unbreakable and (especially) Signs. I am not a big fan of The Village's twist but I still think it was a worthy experience. I can't bring myself to watch his other films.
Yes, I would really love for Shyamalan to direct a good film again. But it sure doesn't look like that is even possible now. Sigh.
Glen
What is the Smith father and son thing
Glen
I meant to ask about your work ie seeing after earth for work ?
I honestly LOVE the Sixth Sense. I just remember seeing it as a kid and loving it and I still love it now. I think it's great. I think Haley Joel Osment would've been a very worthy Oscar winner (and a much more interesting choice than the one the Academy made) and I love the fact that Toni Collette got a surprise nomination (that scene near the end when they're stuck in traffic - gah). This is making me want to watch it again. It definitely scared me at moments, but overall it's a drama and with rich characters and plot and a twist ending that was really interesting and worked well. Obviously the twist won't work on you after that, but it's at least worthy of a rewatch to see how it still worked with the twist and how it successfully tricked you, which is fun.
I also like Signs. I remember being terrified of it when I was younger and now it's meh, doesn't help that the alien at the end looks extremely fake compared to the computer graphics they have today. So I don't really like Signs much anymore, but it at least has strong performances, just like Sixth Sense.
Haven't seen anything and don't plan on it.
*anything else
I am always mesmerized by how the The Village is regarded in the US. In France it's considered a great film (it tied for number 2 in Cahiers du Cinema top 10 that year) , and I know many film critics and flm makers in Brazil, where I live, that absolutely love it. It's just so beautifully made. Bryce Dallas Howard is AMAZING. People talk only about the last act revelation, as this was the only thing it has to offer. I think that's a very superficial way of reading it.
All of his films have made massive amounts of money at the box office worldwide, the only film not to cross $100M is Lady In The Water. I loved his first 4 directorial efforts and at the end of the day he makes studios money and that's what matters.
I like Shyamalan, his first three big successes are all great to near great for what they are. I'll always admire him for sneaking Tarkovsky references into a freaking superhero picture, and totally agree with this article that Unbreakable was years ahead of its time. His middle pictures (The Village and Lady in the Water) are problematic but still have strong qualities to recommend them - especially The Village, which is a gorgeous, highly refined visual experience, if nothing else. His last two movies are depressingly bad, artistic cries for help. I hope After Earth sees him headed back on the right path.
Lightning round:
The Sixth Sense: B+
Unbreakable: A-
Signs: A-
The Village: B
Lady in the Water: B-
The Happening: D
The Last Airbender: F
Ha! Pedro, that's kinda funny because I remember thinking when I saw The Village that I would have far preferred it if it wasn't in English. The atmosphere and the music and the colours- all that beauty! But then to hear the silly come out of the characters mouths undercut it all. And that was even before the twist! It is as if Shyamalan the writer is at odds with Shyamalan the director.
And I really want him to come back and be great. I remember seeing The Sixth Sense in the cinema and that moment when the ring falls and you know- wow! And talking about it afterwards with friends. To pull that off, how did he do it? It was exciting. And I remember I was scared of those cornfields in Signs. Those experiences, that's what I want when I go to see a film.
I am kind of glad that he did do all that bad stuff. It's him. Even if it's bad it's fascinating to see that revealed. Though I do agree with Tim that it might be a good thing for him to be in journeyman mode for a bit. Walk among us for a while and then make that mature M. Night masterpiece. This is what I want to see!
The follow up will probably be intolerable, though.
Pedro, fellow brazilian here. Which part of Brasil are you from?
I loved the Sixth Sense but that was the only M Night film I enjoyed. Signs was pretty good until it all fell apart with that ridiculous ending.
I had no clue he was directing After Earth, I had already decided against seeing it because the previews looked terrible.
Despite his shortcomings as a filmmaker, I always find myself with an affinity for his movies -- save for "The Last Airbender," which I refused to see -- despite their weaknesses. I don't think his perceived "bad" films are the messes that people pretend they are (I rather enjoyed "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening"); however, taken within the context of the promise he showed with his breakout "Sixth Sense," people tend to be less forgiving. It doesn't help that he thought he could test audience's patience and intelligence with his hokey twist endings. One can only ride a wave of goodwill so long until it finally spits you out on the shore.
I will always credit him greatly for introducing me to Toni Collette and always making me tear up at the car scene between her and Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense."
Tim, what a great read and spot-on about the director's tumble down the rabbit shithole. This makes me want to see Sixth Sense again. I saw it on a date and I wasn't paying close attention. Sigh. I liked Signs until the last reel. And I should check out Unbreakable, from what you've written. The others I don't really have a desire to see.
The dreadful performances he gets out of anyone in in The Happening is something to behold,how do you make Betty Buckley look like she is a rank amatuer..
What continuously blows my mind about Shyamalan is that in an industry with a notoriously short memory for success and long memory for failure, he keeps being given money to make movies! How?? Other, better (and worse) directors have seen their careers tank after just *one* bad movie, but he's made four or five! How does he keep making movies??
Signs is generally overvalued and The Village undervalued. I can't take Signs seriously anymore, but The Village has a lot of strong elements, even if the whole is far far less than the sum of its parts.
Whatever direction he gave every actor in The Happening is just a truly astounding accomplishment in wrong-headedness. Just how he managed to get everyone involved to deliver lines as if they had never communicated before via spoken language is remarkable.
Airbender just breaks my heart. Its very strong source material, albeit with some tricky adaptation challenges, but the visuals should've been a gimme. I'd love to see someone with the visual capacity of Guillermo del Toro or Peter Jackson, hell even James Cameron play around with that world.
I remember seeing The Sixth Sense and having trouble sleeping for a week! Mischa Barton scared me!
I remember watching "The Village" and really licking it!
then I logged on IMDb to rate it and was shocked by the spitting and the bashing and the finger-pointing.
I like The Signs, not as much as The Village, but I like it.
And naturally, I really like The Sixth Sense.
He is a director who has shown great potential, let's be generous and not kill him yet.
I think the first film of his I saw was SIGNS, which I remember liking. Then I watched UNBREAKABLE, which I liked as well. Ended up seeing THE VILLAGE (good) and LADY IN THE WATER (liked it, despite him casting himself as the main guy) next, and finally THE SIXTH SENSE a few years ago (although I already knew the 'twist' from years of parody films) which I liked but didn't see it's Best Picture-worthiness.
I saw all those previous films in preparation for THE HAPPENING, from which I saw opening weekend in theaters was was pissed at how disappointing (and how horrible Mark Wahlberg's performance) it was. Wasn't excited about THE LAST AIRBENDER, but went to see it because my bf's a big fan, and was disappointed once again (really, the 3D is just pretty much their faces close up?).
Not sure if I'll see AFTER EARTH in theaters, or maybe just on DVD.
I gave up on Shyamalan after The Village, which was frightful (awesome sound mixing and score though). Can't imagine bothering with anything to do with Will's ongoing attempt to make his dull son a star.
@par3182 Politics. In politics that happens. See also: Mark Sanford.
danny -- ooh, good point. in politics you fail up too! Too bad everythign else doesn't work that way. I'd love to be celebrated for both my failures and my successes :)
I don't really have a problem with M. Night's direction, he's pretty capable in that regard. It's his writing that's godawful and has gotten worse with each film. His best film in my opinion is Unbreakable; by far Bruce Willis' best performance.
Revisiting the films to write this (though not rewatching any of them in full, except for Unbreakable, which is way more interesting than I gave it credit for), what really struck me was the cliff he fell off in terms of directing actors. Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette - brilliant. Wills 2, Samuel L. Jackson - even more brilliant. Best Mel Gibson performance of the '00s.
And then Bryce Dallas Howard happened, and suddenly we're at Zooey Deschanel staring with her saucer eyes like a quirky death mask. I have absolutely no idea what causes that to happen to man with such a facility with actors.
Anyway, I live in hope that he's going to right himself some time; he made too many good genre films for me to ever give up hope completely.
About his ability to survive failure after failure, I'm pretty sure that, even with those bad reputations, Lady in the Water is the only one of his films that ended up losing money for the studio. Last Airbender made $130 million in the U.S. alone, despite everybody you've ever heard talk about it hating it.
The Happening is beyond forgiveness. It's bad enough that it could be considered a crime, the punishment being that he never gets to wield a camera again.
He's not a bad director.
Just one that got derailed by hubris.
It happened to the folks from the 70's too, though that doesn't warrant a comparison between Harold and Maude and Signs.
It makes you admire someone like Linklater, who for better or worse, always finds himself attracted to people. Not situations, not spectacle; just people.
He's a profoundly humane storyteller; whereas Shyamalan became one who believed in his own genius. Perhaps one day he'll get our attention and our money again. But not anytime soon.
Also: why doesn't anyone pull a Debra Winger and make a documentary called 'Searching for M. Night' about his rise and fall? It's a fascinating story, and it's not even fifteen years old.
Beau, that documentary idea is BRILLIANT. His rise and fall is also very close to that of Michael Cimino, only spread out over a decade instead of one feature film (Heaven's Gate, both accomplished and ridiculous).
This is a great article. The Sixth Sense remains an effective chiller, and if you read the screenplay, it's amazing to see just how far he's fallen since in terms of writing. Unbreakable has always been a film I've admired far more than I've enjoyed - very technically accomplished but the narrative arc never really sat well with me. Signs is a lot of fun but man is that ending ridiculous. I never saw The Village because of the terrible reviews - same with Lady in the Water. I saw The Happening out of sheer curiosity and that really effective, creepy image of people falling off buildings en masse. It's maybe the most ridiculous film I've ever seen, taking everything way, WAY too seriously. After Earth looks intriguing, but the reviews are far from encouraging. Really sad to see the precipitous decline in quality over his filmography.
I just saw a an old Newsweek cover in which he was touted as the next Spielberg?
Off-topic but.. Nathaniel you have to watch the Drama Actress Roundtable from THR.
Monica Potter is awesome, and Kerry and Connie are so cool. And Liz Moss and Anna Gunn too. Kate Mara is Kate Mara though but it's worth it.
Beau,
They already (sorta) did, it's called The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan and it was supposed to be a mock-up documentary of M. Night's life but then midway through the author began collecting too much and M. Night turned on him, supposedly because he wasn't being presented in the best way.
I read about it in Vulture AND IT IS GLORIOUS (especially all the parts that involve people that know him paying respects and talking about him like he's the next Terrence Malick):
http://www.vulture.com/2013/05/the-buried-secret-of-m-night-shyamalan.html
Jay:
Thanks for that. I vaguely remember hearing something of that sort when I was younger, but at that point, you just forgave him The Village like it were a slight misstep.
Not so little, unfortunately.
I really loved The Village when i first saw it, even if i guessed the ending long before the twist. I thought it had a great atmosphere, and a beautiful way to make the viewer feeling part of the village. The soft noises in the forest, the sound of the wind ... it was like a Malick movie to me ... I know i'm not making any new friends here but i was 17 when i saw The Village and it was a really fresh and original movie experience. When i watch it again now, i realize that the Twist part doesn't make the film any good, neither the Adrien Brody over the top performance. But Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix still give me shills and i love the very romantic story.
Anyway, i gave Shyamalan the benefit of the doubt after Lady in The Water because i was in love with Bryce Howard then, and i loved the score and the imagery. But i felt betrayed by The Happening where, as you said it, everything bad about Shyamalan's writing and direction poped up to the screen ... And then there was the Airbender and now what seems to be the very worst Will Smith flick ever ... That terrible decline and waste of a once promising talent made sense when i read your great article so thanks a lot :)
People can say anything....i have seen all of his movie and my favourite is HAPPENING......i was scared of plants and trees for days....only Last Air Bender was disappointing.... After Earth is an avg film.... Problem is because shyamalan gave legendary movies in beginning, people expect great from him. If after earth , happening, village were made earlier they would have received good reception. I still have faith in this one of legendary director.
@Anne Marie said:
"What continuously blows my mind about Shyamalan is that in an industry with a notoriously short memory for success and long memory for failure, he keeps being given money to make movies! How?? Other, better (and worse) directors have seen their careers tank after just *one* bad movie, but he's made four or five! How does he keep making movies??"
Answer: Because even though his movies are rated poorly by a lot of critics and even a lot of his former fans bash on his movies, they are profitable. In the end, that is all the studios care about.
Numbers below are from BoxOfficeMojo and are for worldwide grosses:
Sixth Sense
Budget: $40M
Gross: $672M
Unbreakable
Budget: $75M
Gross: $248M
Signs
Budget: $72M
Gross: $408M
The Village
Budget: $60M
Gross: $256M
Lady in the Water
Budget: $70M
Gross: $72M
The Happening
Budget: $48M
Gross: $163M
The Last Airbender
Budget: $150M
Gross: $319M
After Earth
Budget: $130M
Gross: $243M
I LOVE Night! In my eyes, he can do no wrong (I have not seen ..."Airbender"). The Village is my fave; The Sixth Sense will always hold a special place in my heart; I was fascinated by the ideas in Unbreakable and intrigued by the story in Lady in the Water. I teach The Happening in my film lit class to accompany The Birds in a study of unexplained phenomena, and why humans feel the NEED to have evrything explained; where do they turn in times like this? Science? Religion? The movie sparks good discussion about "What if..." I did not know Night directed this new Will Smith movie. I am very anxious to see it! I don't care what anyone says...I love him!
Everyone is so critical,I LOvE EVERY SINGLE M.Night Shyamalan movie.I was only dissapointed with "Lady in the Water" I thought it was going to be about something else.I love the "Airbender" before it became a movie, I own all the cartoons and I'm in my 30's from The Sixth Sense to The Last movie with Will Smith and his son,I thought they were all scary,mysterious and had adventure and fun in all of them.M.Night is up there with Hitchcock and Rod Serling and if you want to pick on someome who writes,produces and directs and has a role in them n can act,show me if you can do so much better.I LOve the Happening,it is spooky and chilling and mysterious.The way people treat the Earth,I wouldn't be surprised if the Earth tried to kill us all.It made me think.I think people are so critical.When they should be criticizing why every freaking movie that comes out is FREAKIN 3-D so they can make our eyes tired and charge us $15.00 a ticket so that by the time you go and leave with a friend you've spent Fifty Dollars!Sheesh,I remember when 3-D was used for special movies with special reasons in the 80's.Get over yourselves people!I love M.Night and no one is perfect,but just because your not fond of 1 movie or 2 you can't say he's a failure.Every movie of his is worth at least watching it on video.I loved seeing the Avatar boy come to life from cartoon to screen,just like every nerd likes seeing their favorite books come to life,like Game of Thrones or Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.For hating his movies so much,he sure made money off all of them.Lady in the water, didn't make too much but some millions is better than no millions,Maybe he should change his name to make movies so you all wouldn't be so jealous.He's not a one hit wonder,HE IS GREAT N I LOVE HIS MOVIES! Be kind do unto others as you would like them to do to you.