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The Visit (2015 American film)
Film by M. Night Shyamalan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Visit is a 2015 American found footage horror film written, co-produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn. The narrative follows teenage siblings Becca and Tyler as they travel to rural Pennsylvania to stay with their estranged grandparents for the first time, only to uncover increasingly disturbing behavior that leads them to a dark and shocking truth.
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The film was released theatrically in North America on September 11, 2015, by Universal Pictures. Produced on a budget of $5 million, it was a commercial success, grossing $98.5 million worldwide. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many considering it a return to form for Shyamalan, citing its blend of suspense, dark humor, and effective twists.
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Plot
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Teenage siblings Becca and Tyler from Philadelphia prepare to spend five days with their maternal grandparents while their mother, Loretta, departs on a cruise with her boyfriend. Loretta has been estranged from her parents for fifteen years due to a past conflict involving her marriage, and her children have never met them. Becca, an aspiring filmmaker, decides to document the visit.
Upon arrival at the grandparents' isolated farmhouse, the siblings are greeted by the elderly couple, who insist they not leave their bedroom after 9:30 p.m. and avoid the basement. Initially welcoming, "Nana" and "Pop Pop" begin exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior: Nana is seen vomiting at night and behaving erratically, while Pop Pop becomes paranoid and aggressive and hoards soiled diapers in a shed. Becca and Tyler grow concerned as the behavior intensifies.
A woman named Stacy, whom the grandparents claim they once counseled, visits the house but is not seen leaving. Tyler hides a camera in the living room, which records Nana attempting to break into the children's locked bedroom with a knife. Becca and Tyler contact Loretta and send her the footage. After viewing it, Loretta informs them that the people they are staying with are not her parents.
The children attempt to escape and discover Stacy’s body hanging from a tree. Becca enters the basement and finds the corpses of their real grandparents, along with uniforms identifying the impostors as escaped psychiatric patients. The impostors restrain the siblings: Becca is locked in a room with Nana during a psychotic episode, and Pop Pop torments Tyler by smearing a soiled diaper on his face. Becca kills Nana with a shard of broken mirror and helps Tyler kill Pop Pop by repeatedly slamming his head with a refrigerator door. They escape and are met outside by their mother and police officers.
Later, Loretta speaks with Becca about her estrangement from her parents and encourages her children not to hold resentment toward their absent father. Becca chooses to include previously omitted footage of her father in the documentary. Tyler records a rap recounting the events at the farmhouse while Becca observes.
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Cast
- Olivia DeJonge as Becca Jamison[4]
- Ed Oxenbould as Tyler Jamison[4]
- Deanna Dunagan as Marja Bella Jamison (Claire), also known as "Nana"[4]
- Peter McRobbie as Frederick Spencer Jamison (Mitchell), also known as "Pop Pop"[4]
- Kathryn Hahn as Loretta Jamison, Becca and Tyler's mother[4]
- Patch Darragh as Dr. Sam
- Celia Keenan-Bolger as Stacey
- Benjamin Kanes as Corin, Becca and Tyler's father[4]
Production
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Development
Following the critical and commercial disappointment of The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth (2013), M. Night Shyamalan chose to self-finance his next project. He borrowed $5 million against his home to fund The Visit, aiming to return to his filmmaking roots with a smaller-scale, independently produced horror feature.[5]
Production was handled by Shyamalan’s company, Blinding Edge Pictures, with Shyamalan and Marc Bienstock serving as producers. Steven Schneider and Ashwin Rajan were attached as executive producers.[6][7] The project operated under the working title Sundowning, a reference to a symptom of increased confusion and agitation in individuals with dementia that often occurs during the late afternoon and evening.[8][9]
Initially, Shyamalan struggled with the film’s tone during post-production. The first cut resembled an art-house drama, while the second leaned heavily into comedy.[5] Ultimately, Shyamalan found a tonal balance by recutting the film as a thriller, which he said allowed the suspense, humor, and emotional elements to serve the overall narrative cohesively.[10] After revisions were completed, Universal Pictures agreed to distribute the film, and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions was added as a presenting production company.[11][5]
Casting
The casting process involved auditions with thousands of American children for the lead roles of Becca and Tyler. However, Shyamalan ultimately selected two Australian actors—Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould—for the roles, describing the decision as a "total fluke." Both actors were relatively unknown at the time but impressed the director with their performances and on-screen chemistry.[12][13]
Filming
Principal photography began on February 19, 2014. Filming took place under the provisional title Sundowning, which remained confidential during production to preserve secrecy around the film’s premise. The film was shot using a found-footage style, intended to reflect the protagonist's documentary filmmaking perspective.
Shyamalan directed the film with a minimal crew and a modest budget, emphasizing naturalistic performances and handheld cinematography to reinforce the film's grounded, intimate tone. The production schedule was kept relatively short to accommodate the film’s low budget and streamlined narrative.
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Music
As is typical for found footage films, The Visit does not feature a traditional film score for most of its runtime. Composer Paul Cantelon is credited with the "epilogue theme," which plays during the film’s closing segment. Several licensed songs also appear throughout the film.
Release
The Visit was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Pictures on September 11, 2015.[14] The first official trailer premiered in theaters on April 17, 2015, attached to Unfriended (2014), and was released online shortly after.[11][15] The film held an early screening in the Republic of Ireland on August 30, 2015, which was attended by director M. Night Shyamalan.[16]
Home media
The Visit was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 5, 2016.[17]
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Reception
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Box office
The Visit grossed $65.2 million in the United States and Canada and $33.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $98.4 million against a production budget of $5 million.[3] The film debuted with $25.4 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind The Perfect Guy by a margin of approximately $460,000.[18]
In a 2018 interview, Shyamalan stated that he had kept a list of Hollywood executives who had declined to distribute the film, noting that many of them were no longer in their positions by the time the film succeeded commercially.[5]
Critical response
The Visit received generally positive reviews from critics.[19] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 231 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website’s consensus reads: “The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying blend of thrills and laughs—and also signals a welcome return-to-form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan.”[20] On Metacritic, it has a weighted score of 55 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews.”[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of “B−” on an A+ to F scale.[22]
Scot Mendelson of Forbes described the film as “a deliciously creepy and funny little triumph,” praising its character development and tonal balance. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it “an amusingly grim fairy tale,” comparing it to Hansel and Gretel and commending its stripped-down style and strong performances.[23][24][25]
Other critics were less favorable. Mark Kermode of The Observer criticized the film’s tonal inconsistencies, calling it “an endurance test,” while Mike McCahill of The Guardian rated it one star out of five, describing it as “dull, derivative, and flatly unscary.”[26][27]
Accolades
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References
External links
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