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The latest Shyamalan film Glass provides a satisfying culmination to years-long build up.
The Messy History of M. Night Shyamalan’s Filmography
Well, M. Night Shyamalan has certainly had an… interesting career to say the least.
Many are familiar with the rise and subsequent fall of Shyamalan. The Sixth Sense catapulted his career to international heights in 1999. The love this film received was not due simply to the famed twist, as critic Roger Ebert declared the film had an overall “calm, sneaky self-confidence”.
Critical and commercial success continued with Unbreakable (2000), featuring Bruce Willis as the film’s lead.
At this point, people considered Shyamalan a director with a ton of potential. A latent genius, who would go on to change the landscape of film forever.
The ensuing nosedive his career took was… not expected.
From the hilariously bizarre The Happening (2008), the abysmal The Last Airbender (2010), and the utterly boring Jayden Smith-spectacle that no one asked for – After Earth (2013) – he quickly became a laughing stock.
After Earth tanked and, consequently, led many to believe Shyamalan’s career would end with this sad, wet fart of a film.
What the hell happened? The string of bad-to-middling movies have led some to evaluate whether he simply cracked under pressure, or if he was just never that good of a director in the first place.
The Actually-Not-So-Bad Phase
However, to his credit, the man never stopped.
Some argue his return to form began with found-footage horror The Visit (2015), a box office success with mixed critical reception. However, it was Split (2016) that got people really excited. Starring James McAvoy, the psychological thriller featured a Shyamalan-twist many welcomed.
In an industry dominated by superhero universes, Split incorporated this in a way that could almost be described as subtle. Regardless of what you make of his film-making talent, you have to admit it’s a smart move to build on the goodwill that was previously seeded with Unbreakable.
His latest film ‘Glass’ is the third and final installment of the ‘Eastrail 177 trilogy’. You can check out the trailer for yourself:
Well, are you excited? Let’s just hope if it’s bad, it’s The Happening-kind of bad.
Apparently, director Neill Blomkamp has had a similar directorial trajectory. Has he had a similar ‘return to form’?
