M. Night Shyamalan is different from other filmmakers. He is utterly unique, and as a result, he has created a filmography that questions our current views on style, acting, and story. While it's straightforward to get caught up in Shyamalan's so-called surprises, his ability to disrupt expectations and present stories in his unique style makes him so appealing. While he's made a few mistakes down the journey, Shyamalan remains one of the few directors who can entice moviegoers with his name alone. 

So, now that his new movie, 'Trap,’ has been released, we celebrate his auteur movie-making journey with a ranking of the worst to best films he made. 

The Happening 

After making several box office hits, Shyamalan made the worst film of all time. With bad writing and worse direction, the movie was completely off the rails. But, several years ahead, it has garnered a cult following. Now, it is considered one of the most underrated movies ever. It is a comedy-horror movie starring Mark Wahlberg’s confused eyebrows. 

Old

This movie is adapted from the noble 'Sandcastle.’ It is an excellent thriller with sci-fi elements. The plot starts with a family having their vacation on a sandy beach island. Overnight they started to grow old, but why? To know the answer, you have to wait till the end of the film. The answer at the end was a shocking plot twist. 

Glass 

Glass is Shyamalan’s superhero trilogy’s last film. Unlike his previous superhero films, its story dealt with the idea that maybe superheroes are mentally ill after all. It has great thrilling, suspenseful action sequences. But in the end, it comes with a great but controversial plot twist. 

Signs 

Signs is Shyamalan’s take on alien invasion on Earth. It is also an intimate drama about family, the bond we share, grief, and loss. It was a commercial and critical success that Shyamalan hoped for. The final twist was here praised by both the audiences and critics.

The Village

The premise of the village is very simple but effective. It’s a period drama set in an Amish village hidden deep inside a forest. It’s also romance drama woven into the fabric of folk horror. Sir Roger Deakins’s beautiful direction of photography was the best feature of this film. James Newton Howard was also nominated for an Oscar for his beautiful soundtrack. Shyamalan’s twist here was iconic as well.

Split

Even without considering the plot twist, this film was one of the best psychological thrillers of all time. It was a box office hit, turning out a 2000% profit return after investment.  James McAvoy did his career-best acting for this film. He played a mentally ill person with more than 23 personalities. Now for the twist, Shyamalan made an amazing ending, which left audiences baffled. 

Unbreakable

This is Shyamalan’s first of his superhero trilogy. He was a visionary director who knew the potential of comic book films. In the early 2000s, superhero films were a niche culture. Shyamalan created a realistic and psychological effect of being a superhero. As usual, at the end, it has a classical Shyamalan’s twist. 

The Sixth Sense

Bruce Willis (Die Hard movies) and Haley Joel Osment’s iconic performances were key features of the film. This movie is helmed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. ‘I see dead people’ was the most quotable quote of that year too. The twist at the end was so legendary that people compared Shyamalan to the next ‘Spielberg’. It was the highest-grossing horror movie for 18 years straight.  

Watching order for the superhero trilogy: 1. Unbreakable, 2. Split, 3. Glass. Please avoid the other films that are not mentioned here. If you feel skeptical, you can also avoid the first two entries too. But if you like his style of storytelling, why not binge-watch all of his movies?

Writer
Sadi Reza,

Keywords: movie, films, superhero, twist, trilogy, movies, plot, drama, horror, audiences.

Category: Feature