Warning: spoilers for The Village are in play. If you’ve somehow escaped spoilers for this M. Night Shyamalan film, and want to remain that way, don’t follow us into the woods.
A little over 16 years ago, M. Night Shyamalan was on a hot streak, as his career had delivered three solid hits into the world: The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. Terror laden tales of people overcoming personal trauma, and becoming stronger than they ever could have imagined, this landmark trio served as the foundation for the writer/director’s meteoric rise in the Hollywood firmament. And then, on July 30, 2004, all of that changed when The Village saw critics, and even fans, turning against the steadily climbing auteur and his visions. Part of the problem was, folks didn’t know what to make of The Village’s ending, and there’s a really good reason for that.