Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 7, 2025
Watch with my kids last night and they had a good time with it. It’s fun to watch these films with my kids where they can come into the film free of the baggage of knowing what an M. Night Shyamalan film means. They can watch it, not constantly looking for the twist. So much of this film works really well. The setting along with the gradual reveal of the creatures, along with the design if the creatures themselves all build incredible tension. I often wish that Shyamalan would decide to tackle a straight forward horror thriller in the vein of A Quiet Place. I think his style is so perfectly suited to that kind of thing. I love nearly the entire cast here. Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrian Brody, Sigourney Weaver, Brendand Gleeson, Judy Greer—the cast is absolutely stacked. I could do without the obligatory Shyamalan cameo, he’s just never very good compared to the cast around him. Though, I think the end reveal works, it takes way too long to play out and it makes the end of this feel really sluggish. Really slow zoom in on the picture pretty much gives away everything the audience needs to know. Then there’s a slow reveal when Bryce’s character Ivy reaches the perimeter and then a really slow final scene of Ivy returning to the village. Just kind of a minor gripe. Really fun watch with the kids though.