*Writers Note*

This movie review contains a few spoilers.

Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan’s movies have been known to include eerie shot styles, clever storytelling and dramatic plot twists. Movies such as “Signs” and “The Sixth Sense” shocked viewers with unexpected endings and his newest blockbuster “The Visit” is just as thrilling.

The movie is shot documentary style from the point of view of the protagonist’s, which we see are the grandchildren whom are going to visit their estranged grandparents.

Young Tyler and Becca, played by Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge, are normal young adolescents filming a movie about their mother and in their attempt to do so they actually capture the entire tragedy that will ensue on camera.

The kids’ characters are typical of the normal American young teens. The boy’s character provides for comic relief for many of the high tension scenes and the girl’s character brings emotion to the storyline which requires deeper thought.

Becca is investigating and throughout the movie she is seen asking questions to better understand what is happening. The viewer is only able to see everything that is going on based on what Tyler and Becca see through the lens. This shot style keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, because we do not know what is going on beyond that.

As time goes on, the grandchildren begin to witness the grandparents, played by Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, doing crazy things, such as projectile vomiting in the night, running around the house naked, scratching walls, and even attempting suicide. It is not made clear, at first, if the grandparents are crazy, possessed or have been abducted by aliens, it is a big mystery.

Overall the movie captured not just one emotion but a variety of them. We laughed, we cried, we made assumptions about future outcomes and it made us jump out of our seat. Each character provided a personality relatable to our own and the camera view gave the audience a chance to feel as if they were existing alongside the characters in real life creating a thrilling mystery.