The Visit stars Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge, who play Tyler and Becca. Tyler and Becca are two kids who go to rural Pennsylvania in order to meet grandparents they have never seen before. Their plan is to turn the whole experience into a documentary. Their grandparents and their mother do not get along. In fact, their mother has not seen her parents since she ran off with her English teacher at 19. The fact that Becca is obsessed with working on the documentary gives our actual filmmakers a chance to use shots that are more artistic in the found footage film. The kids wanted to catch on film the relationship between their mother leaving at an early age and the recent abandonment of their father.
The longer they stay at Nana and Pop Pop’s house, the more they realize that their grandparents are acting strange. Nana and Pop Pop simply explain that they act a little strange because they are very old. However, does that really explain why Nana freaks out at night and why Pop Pop attacked a stranger during a trip to town? As the week progresses, the kids start to see that this is more than just old age. They start to see that they might have to fight in order to get through the week at Nana and Pop Pop’s house.
The Visit is the newest film from M. Night Shyamalan and it is not what I expected from him at all. That does not mean it was a bad film; it is certainly one of the more well done found footage films. I did enjoy the mixture of comedy and horror, but I feel that the movie was not as violent and terrifying as it should have been. Nevertheless, it was fun to watch. While the story was not as strong as one would expect, the way the scenes change from comedic to thrilling makes the film worth watching. There are quite a bit of successful jump scares scattered throughout the film as well.
The stars of the movie add personality to the film. Becca is the oldest and is the highly intelligent aspiring filmmaker while Tyler is your typical suburban rapper who constantly wants to prove that he can get all the ladies and rap about anything. They are put in a position that makes us feel bad about them. Various bits of dramatic and heartfelt moments might feel a little out of place, but I do think that they are necessary in order to help us care about what happens to the characters.
There could not have been better choices for Nana and Pop Pop. Deana Dunagan and Peter McRobbie are able to successfully creep us out in every scene they are in. They are strange, creepy, and I definitely would not want them as my grandparents.
Overall, this is a fun movie to watch. It has a fair amount of jump scares, creepy “what if” moments, and even a few laughs. However, if you are expecting Shyamalan to deliver another story like The Sixth Sense, you will be severely disappointed.
