The Hallmark greeting card version of grandparents is one of gray- and white-haired sweetness and light, comforting presences who spoil their grandkids, feed them sweets every chance they get, and impart plenty of wisdom as they frequently retell the same nostalgic stories of long ago. Naturally, they wouldn't harm a hair on their heads. In daring to put his signature shivery spin on this fixed emblem of unconditional love, M. Night Shyamalan has left behind his recent troubled, big-budget, less personal studio fare (2010's "The Last Airbender," 2013's "After Earth") for a glorious, long-time-coming return to form. Made on a comparative shoestring budget of just $5-million, "The Visit" holds the same technically meticulous, richly characterized spirit of the auteur's early thrillers (among them, 1999's "The Sixth Sense," 2000's "Unbreakable," and 2002's "Signs"), this time narrowing its gaze on the unresolved issues of a broken family and the harsh realities of growing older.
In preparing for a week-long visit to the rural Pennsylvania home of her estranged Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), 15-year-old filmmaker-in-training Becca (Olivia DeJonge) endeavors to shoot a documentary that she hopes will help mend fences and reunite mom Loretta (Kathryn Hahn) with her parents for the first time in fifteen years. Becca and 13-year-old brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are excited to meet their grandparents, and Nana and Pop Pop appear to be more than welcoming. Told that lights should be out by 9:30 p.m., the siblings nevertheless sense that something very strange is occurring on the other side of their closed bedroom door. Pop Pop explains that Nana is suffering from a form of dementia called sundowning, but as the week presses on and the behavior of both their grandparents becomes increasingly erratic no matter what time of day it is, it becomes clear something far more devious is going on with them.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
