#62 THE VISIT

#62 THE VISIT

Starring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn. Written by M. Night Shyamalan. 94 minutes.

Two kids, Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are sent off by their single mom, Loreta (Kathryn Hahn) to spend a week with her estranged parents, whom she's not seen in 15 years. Both children are disgustingly precocious, Becca is a 14 year-old documentary film maker with the vocabulary of a 26 year film graduate and Tyler is an 11 year-old lisping white rapper obsessed with bitches and his height and an obsessive OCD obsession with cleanliness. The grandparents who now spend their time running a counseling service at the local mental hospital that is, initially seem fine, loving and attentive, although come night-time, when both kids are banished to their bedroom and warned not to leave, Nana and Pop-pop begin to exhibit ridiculously bizarre antics that alarm the kids, although not enough for them to ever alert their mum until it's far too late...

Filmed as P.O.V and chronicling the week in daily chapters this is the 10th film of M. Night Shamalama-ding dong and with each film it gets increasingly hard to remember the wonder of his second film, Sixth Sense.

First the good news. This isn't as terrible as The Happening, The Last Air Bender, Signs, The Village, After Earth, Lady in the Lake or any of his other films that aren't The Sixth Sense. Now the bad, it's not particularly good.

Because Night can't make an original film without a twist in the tale, you sit there waiting for this one to rear its ugly head and the way it's telegraphed is genuinely laughable. After that you're just waiting for the kids to twig. Until then you gasp and giggle at each stupid thing they do and the bizarre antics their grandparents get up to, until the reveal-all final act and the shocking revelations are at last revealed.

Stupid, silly and daft, treat it like a comedy and you might enjoy it.

5/10