This is a campy self-aware faux horror documentary from the perspective of teenagers. Also (see above) they case actual teenagers, which does wonders for the film. It's the sort of weird, funny little film I'd expect to see to a newcomer to the genre. It's the sort of film you see and think "it has it's issues, but I feel like this director has promise". Which makes the fact that it was made by a big budget, almost universally panned director confusing.
It's a surprisingly ballsy film. It's a slow burn, taking advantage of "old people are just weird" for as long as possible. It's filled with weird half-explanations that would genuinely be believable to the teenage main characters. And it has a twist that I at least did not see coming (I knew there would be a twist of course, but I didn't think it would be what it was).
It struck me as honest in a way I rarely see. The main characters are irritating and lovable, and really work as actual teenagers. The older daughter sees herself as very grown up and cultured, she wants to make this a poignant documentary about the family she's never known, tying it into her mother's past and her present in a way that creates meaning for herself and her whole family. But of course, she's a teenager, so she's often really bad at it (though she is treated to a few touching scenes). She's a very believable 17 year old girl.
The brother, 13, is a tiny puffed up cultural appropriating, misogynistic little asshole. But it's completely obvious that he is the way he is because he's trying to compensate for his father's disappearance, for his scrawny frame, for his awkwardness. He's lovable because he has absolutely no idea what he's doing. He's probably the most believable teenage boy I've seen in a movie in years.
And the core family: brother, sister & mother... they really love each other. They fight and make mistakes just like normal people, but they're a good, loving family. The sister calls the brother out on his misogynistic bullshit, the brother gets the sister to take him more seriously, and the mother is hopelessly confused by the world that is adulthood but loves & protects her children as best she can. It's a shockingly positive depiction of a single-parent family.
When we get to the meat of the movie it's uneven. There are both laughs & jump scares. But I'd say it's closer to a comedy than a horror film. The self-awareness helps a lot to mitigate this though. It's solid entertainment, with interesting "villians" and a commitment to the realism of it's heroes (though significantly less commitment to the realism of Nana and Pop Pop).
Were this a movie by a director new to the scene, it would be easier to praise it, to call it daring and funny, to give it a B+. But while Shyamalan has made a significantly better film here than he has in more than a decade, I still don't think he deserves a newbie bonus.
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Entertaining 4/5 Intelligent 2/5 Unsettling 3.5/5
Scary 3/5 Gory 1/5 Funny 5/5 Artistic 2/5
Scary 3/5 Gory 1/5 Funny 5/5 Artistic 2/5
Representation of Minorities 0/5 Representation of Women 4/5
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