Watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie is like riding a rollercoaster. There are plenty of ups and downs, but overall, you’re glad you went on it.
With the newest M. Night Shyamalan movie coming out in only a couple of days, I brought it upon myself to do a movie review tierlist. As a personal fan, I’m aware of his rocky history with movies, and I’m excited for his new flick. For each category we’ll discuss why I placed the movie where it is, as well as the general consensus from critics. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up to the top!
F Tier
The Happening
Unexplained natural disasters leading to mass suicides. Sounds interesting, right? Unfortunately, this movie doesn’t really live up to its promising premise. It goes way past “dumb fun” territory into plain unbelievable horror. If you can turn your brain off to logic completely, you just might enjoy it. Otherwise, you might want to pick a more comprehensive M. Night Shyamalan movie to watch.
The Last Airbender
If you’re a fan of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, you might want to steer clear of this terrible adaptation. Laughably bad, it was memed to death the moment it came out, and is widely regarded as one of the worst adaptations, if not worst movies, of all time. The 2024 Netflix adaptation did a better job, but if you want the real magic of the series, stick to the original.
After Earth
The only thing worse than a bad movie is a boring movie. A bad movie is something you can laugh about later, but a boring movie is a chore, and unfortunately, watching After Earth is about as fun as watching paint dry. I love a good (and bad) Will Smith movie any day, but unfortunately his son did not seem to inherit any of his talent for acting.
D Tier
Lady in the Water
There is no movie that tests a viewer’s suspension of disbelief quite like Lady in the Water. The story is preposterous to the point where you end up not really caring if anyone is in actual danger, and not even understanding what that danger is supposed to be in the first place. It’s the kind of movie that leaves you feeling frustrated, like you missed something important. Trust me, you didn’t.
Glass
Creating a good sequel to an amazing movie is no easy task, but completing the trilogy with a third movie that’s meant to tie everything together is even harder. Glass is the third and final movie in the Unbreakable trilogy, and unfortunately, it kind of misses the mark. The conclusion is a bit of a disappointing mess, considering how well-received the first two movies in the trilogy are.
C Tier
Wide Awake
M. Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut (not counting his very first independent film) is, surprisingly enough, not a thriller but instead a comedy-drama. Still finding his feet, this film explores religion and family in a surprisingly refreshing way, but it clearly isn’t Shyamalan’s area of expertise, so it’s still not a very interesting watch. Filled with tropes and overdone plot points, it’s definitely the black sheep in his movie career.
The Village
The first properly creepy movie on our list, The Village is a great example of an M. Night Shyamalan classic: a twist ending. Unfortunately, this ending is also an example of how laughably ridiculous some of Shyamalan’s twists can get. The plot is convoluted, to the point where once you reach the twist, it ruins the experience fully rather than enhancing it, or even saving it.
Old
Old is one of those M. Night Shyamalan movies you either love or hate, so it seemed only appropriate to place it in C tier. While it is a very interesting concept, whether it was executed well is a highly debated topic. It certainly is a movie that leaves you wanting more, whether that’s a good thing or not. The dialogue is choppy at points, leaving the actors little to work with, which can result in an overall frustrating watch.
B Tier
The Visit
The first example of a “dumb fun” movie from M. Night Shyamalan on this list, The Visit is the perfect horror movie for comedy lovers, because it’s got a bit of both elements to it (whether it was meant to, or not). The heroes are the real star of the show, as they provide individuality and intelligence that we can’t help but root for. The “villains” are appropriately creepy, while also being very compelling to watch.
Knock at the Cabin
More chilling than scary, Knock at the Cabin offers the classic thriller question of what to do in an impossible situation. A trolly problem on steroids, it’s a thought-provoking film and offers interesting characters to pick apart. It’s cinematically rich with stunning performances, although some might find the movie to be over-complicated at best and annoying at worst.
A Tier
Unbreakable
My personal favorite M. Night Shyamalan movie, Unbreakable is the king of quiet suspense. The first movie in the Unbreakable trilogy, it also works perfectly fine as a standalone film. While most people agree that The Sixth Sense has a better twist ending, that doesn’t mean that Unbreakable‘s twist ending is bad, because it’s not. It’s certainly more of a slow-burn film, so viewers will want to pay close attention.
Signs
Suspenseful and chilling, Signs keeps the audience on their toes with a strange but not overly complicated plot. An alien movie that actually manages to be scary rather than ridiculous (looking at you, Alien vs Predator) is no easy task, and thankfully M. Night Shyamalan pulls it off flawlessly. The soundtrack is eerily beautiful, and was also composed by the same person who did the soundtrack for The Sixth Sense.
Split
If not for James McAvoy’s brilliant performances (as he plays multiple characters trapped in one person’s body), this movie would probably only be in B tier. He is able to convincingly pull off both a nine-year old boy and a beastly monster, giving him one of his most chilling roles yet. The sequel to Unbreakable, it lets viewers know that they’re in store for a trilogy that nobody was expecting.
S Tier
The Sixth Sense
It’s hard to properly describe a masterpiece, but imagine all the good things about M. Night Shyamalan movies, and then put them into one movie. Chilling story, stellar acting, and perhaps one the best movie ending twists of all time, The Sixth Sense is a critically acclaimed film for a reason. If you haven’t seen it, please don’t look it up! Trust me, you don’t want to get spoiled on this one.
Taking The Good With The Bad
As an M. Night Shyamalan fan, we’re pretty used to riding the rollercoaster of his films. For a newcomer though, it can be hard to know which movies to skip and which are worth watching. I hope this tier list helped out some newbies, and happy viewing! Now, I’ve got to go get tickets for the new Shyamalan film. I’m ready for some dumb fun!
Want to start with his latest flick? Check out this article to get another opinion!
Interested in learning more about the man himself? Then this article is for you.
