The Village

I by no means claim that The Village is M. Night Shyamalan's best film, but I like it the most. Emotionally, it may resonate with me more than the acclaimed The Sixth Sense. In one of Švankmajer's films, the heroine says: "You have to close your eyes, or you won't see anything." In the case of The Village, it is not necessary to close your eyes but to embrace the director's game and let your imagination carry you away. The film doesn't function as a thriller or even as a horror, and anyone who thinks in terms of traditional genres will inevitably be disappointed. However, The Village, despite many contrary claims in the reviews, offers a range of very good acting performances, directorial ideas, and above all, atmosphere. Overall impression 90%. (06/13/2006)

A film whose biggest weakness is, paradoxically, the thing it cannot control itself, the overly high expectations of the fans of the director and screenwriter in one person. I enjoyed Shyamalan's intriguing plot premise, I also enjoyed the main idea that emerges after the central plot twist is revealed. Unfortunately, though, that twist is quite problematic. Not because it isn't interesting, but because it raises a lot of questions about improbability and being too "far-fetched". Nevertheless, I was still satisfied. The Village is a beautifully atmospheric affair, with great music, and the fact that it doesn't feel much like a horror movie and that I was hardly scared at all bothered me least of all, and I don't take any criticism in that direction. (02/16/2005)

Mysterious atmosphere, suspense, great performances (Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody) and an original theme. This film had its light and dark moments, which were about in balance, but I still have to say I haven't seen anything like it before. (12/03/2009)

An unexpectedly decent mystery and thriller in the end. I like movies about closed communities of people who are afraid of the outside world, who is there, what is there, what do they want. The decent direction and the awesome ensemble cast only adds to the experience, but the ending comes to an end much like Lost, with a lot of unanswered questions, which annoyed me, so I'm knocking off one star. 70% (08/25/2014)

"The Village" is a bad movie and this feeling only deepened with the second viewing. The first time I was disappointed because I was expecting something great, the second time I just saw the overly ridiculous plot, which literally begs for parody. That village is not a place you would want to return to. The horror elements are excellent, but they only last for about three minutes in total. For such a long runtime, it's not enough and you have to prepare yourself for a long romantic drama with incredibly caricatured characters. (03/12/2014)