5 Most Mind-Bending M. Night Shyamalan Movie to Watch Before Trap Hits Theaters, Ranked by IMDb

M. Night Shyamalan's filmography has been uneven, but the director has always returned with a new hit after a failure, which in itself makes him a unique auteur. On August 9, 2024, the director's next project will be released, titled Trap, which is already fascinating viewers with its trailer alone.

In honor of this, we offer a list of Shyamalan's films to watch and revisit – not including The Sixth Sense, which needs no introduction.

5. Old, 2021

IMDb Rating: 5.8/10

Several couples with their children come on vacation to a paradise island that ordinary people don't know about. The beach turns out to be amazing, but terrible things happen on it: first the tourists find the body of a girl, and then the children suddenly start to grow up by leaps and bounds. Time passes faster on this beach, and it is impossible to get out of here: any attempt to do so results in losing consciousness.

This is a rare non-original script by Shyamalan, based on the French-Swiss comic book Sandcastle, to which the director added a dash of frightening body horror.

4. The Visit, 2015

IMDb Rating: 6.3/10

A brother and sister visit their grandparents, whom they have never seen. The mother of the young main characters has a difficult relationship with her parents, and the children soon understand why.

The modern version of the tale of the brother and sister in the cannibal hut has everything: drive, nerve and a bit of madness. And The Visit's twist ending is perhaps the best since the legendary The Sixth Sense.

3. The Village, 2004

IMDb Rating: 6.6/10

The village of Covington is surrounded on all sides by forests teeming with creepy monsters, but nothing threatens the residents until they venture into the thicket. The only one who chooses to ignore the rules is blind girl Ivy Walker, who goes to get medicine for her loved one despite the warnings of her relatives.

The Village is a classic Shyamalan movie, and without spoilers its plot can only be described in the most general phrase: a blind girl lives in an isolated village surrounded by monsters. In this movie, the famous unexpected twist will leave no one indifferent – you will either love it or hate it.

2. Signs, 2002

IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

After the death of his wife in a car accident, priest Graham Hess renounced his faith and left the church, now he is an ordinary farmer living on the outskirts with his younger brother and two children. One day, Graham finds unusual circles in his cornfield. They look like someone has crushed the corn to paint some kind of giant sign in the field. And this assumption turns out to be absolutely correct.

What is the most important rule for effective horror? Of course, let the terrible images be born in the imagination of the viewers, without showing too much at once. Signs follows this rule, making it one of the scariest movies of its time.

1. Unbreakable, 2000

IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

A terrible train accident kills 132 passengers, but only one survives. His name is David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis). Elijah, nicknamed Mr. Glass, contacts the survivor. Elijah rare disease – his bones can break at the slightest impact. The disease cut him off from normal life, but now Mr. Glass believes he has found a super-strong partner in David – Mr. Unbreakable.

Shyamalan showed the world the wide range of Bruce Willis' acting in The Sixth Sense, one of the best movies in the careers of both of them. But in Unbreakable he treats the actor’s talent in a perhaps even more interesting way. Unbreakable is a subtle drama about what it's like for an ordinary family man to feel the responsibility of a superhero, and how on-screen "heroism" has nothing to do with real life.