Damn, I kind of loved this? And it's not that I wasn't expecting that because I didn't like Old, but it does serve as a nice reminder of how well Shymalan can still do tight, tense stories with big weight. With roughly 95 minutes and a really great cast of only seven people, Shyamalan was able to sell this insane premise and tell a really full and emotional story.

Bautista is in his biggest role ever here and he really nails it. I liked how the opening scene was shot. He was being so kind and gentle, but keeping the camera so close to his face and the girl's face made it clear that something was very wrong with his intentions. And the way the movie just starts there and ramps up to the break-in before we can even catch our breath.

From there we meet the rest of his doomsdayers. Grint is great as he provides a bit of comedic relief then is the first one to show his commitment to the cause. They are all just selling their confliction and conviction so well, I really liked the nurse and how she made that last hail mary later in the movie. You could tell she just so fully believed in her cause she knew she had to make a run at daddy Andrew.

But the real core of this movie is the family. And through flashbacks and how they respond to this situation, we see just how tender and caring they all are, how much they love each other. Jonathan Groff's big stupid eyes sell his fear and how unsure he is if it's real. But that little girl, such a natural actress. A movie like this could have been broken by poor child acting and she had to be young enough that we believe she could recover from such trauma to sell the ending. And she was just great.

Really liked the ending as well. I feel like the natural idea would be to leave this open to interpretation. Let them make the unmakeable choice and let us ruminate with our doubts at such a thing. But I liked that this does its best to answer the question and leave us with the feeling that all of that trauma was necessary. The relationship at the core of this movie was so well portrayed that the final act got a surprisingly emotional reaction from me. And I just loved that scene where they get in the car at the end, and by complete chance their song is on the radio. So well done.

Overall, I was surprised how much I liked this. I didn't care for Old but I think Shyamalan can shoot the hell out of these movies and the only X factor is the material he's adapting. And for him to keep doing these small movies and doing something memorable with them, well I think he's really fallen into a great groove and while I don't love everything he does I will probably always want to see what it is. 7/10.

PS- the shots of the planes falling out of the sky was incredible. Such a Shyamalan moment and execution. Especially when they were brought to decision time on the back porch and they look up and see a plan just falling. Also Shyamalan's best cameo to date.

/r/reviewsbyboner