The Visit was a weird one. It fails where you’d think it would succeed, and succeeds where you think it would fail. One of the biggest problems with The Visit is it doesn’t fully commit to the medium.
For instance, the girl’s relationship with her documentary, her art, is never made clear. How does she feel about what she’s doing? When is she filming for herself, and when is she filming for the documentary? The boy’s relationship feels more clear, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing. But there’s still confusion: If he’s not zooming in, who is? Ghosts? Who is editing? The editor of The Visit? The girl? It’s everything. Whose relationship with the camera are we prioritizing?
Having said that, it’s the best twist since The 6th sense. There’s a gut punch we didn’t see coming, one out of nowhere that manages to feel so organic. We found out later it was spoiled in the trailer. There’s a whole discussion we need to have about horror trailers, but not tonight.
Kathryn Hahn’s last scene is confusing, neither resolution nor resolve. In a last scene that feels neither entirely profound nor wholly pedestrian.
The acting is solid. The kids feel entirely appropriate, so do the grandparents. It should also be pointed out that this is Mr. M. Night. Shyamalan’s lowest budgeted studio feature film, at a clean 95 minutes. They didn’t have a ton to work with.
Did they maximize their time? That’s for you to answer.
Kat: 4
Kas: 6