the visit movie rating

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Shyamalan's found-footage spooker has teens in peril.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Teens learn to overcome past fears to deal with cu

The main characters are teens (13 and 15) who try

Dead bodies, one hanged. Elderly man killed in a s

Minor innuendo involving 13-year-old boy who imagi

"F--k" is used once. Other words include

Skype is used as part of the plot. Sony laptop sho

Adults occasionally smoke cigarettes. A boy mimes

Parents need to know that The Visit is a found-footage horror movie from director M. Night Shyamalan. There are plenty of spooky images, sounds, and dialogue, as well as jump scares and a small amount of blood and gore. Viewers see dead bodies (including one killed in a rather shocking way), and two teens, 13…

Positive Messages

Teens learn to overcome past fears to deal with current situations. They sometimes work together but at other times are forced to split up.

Positive Role Models

The main characters are teens (13 and 15) who try their best to survive a bad situation; they're brave, but their situation isn't one anyone would emulate. The adults in the story aren't particularly admirable.

Violence & Scariness

Dead bodies, one hanged. Elderly man killed in a shocking way. Some blood. Spooky images, spooky dialogue, and jump scares. Stabbing with a mirror shard. Teens in jeopardy. Vomiting and poop. A man briefly assaults another man. Rifle briefly shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Minor innuendo involving 13-year-old boy who imagines himself a ladykiller. Nana's naked bottom is shown twice.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"F--k" is used once. Other words include "s--t," "ass," "ho," "bitch," "goddamn," "hell," "douche," and possibly "a--hole." Middle finger gesture.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Skype is used as part of the plot. Sony laptop shown. A Yahtzee! game, with references to toy companies Hasbro and Milton Bradley.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults occasionally smoke cigarettes. A boy mimes "pot smoking" with his fingers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Visit is a found-footage horror movie from director M. Night Shyamalan . There are plenty of spooky images, sounds, and dialogue, as well as jump scares and a small amount of blood and gore. Viewers see dead bodies (including one killed in a rather shocking way), and two teens, 13 and 15, are frequently in peril. The 13-year-old boy fancies himself a ladykiller, which leads to some minor innuendo, and the "Nana" character's naked bottom is shown a couple of times. Language includes a use of "f--k," plus "s--t," "bitch," and more, most frequently spoken by the 13-year-old. Adult characters infrequently smoke cigarettes, and there's a very brief, mimed reference to smoking pot. Shyamalan is a filmmaker whom horror hounds love to hate, but this movie could be a comeback that fans will want to see. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (19)
• Kids say (82)

Based on 19 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Thirteen-year-old Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) and 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) agree to spend a week with their grandparents while encouraging their mom ( Kathryn Hahn ) to take a vacation with her boyfriend. The kids have never met their grandparents, "Nana" (Deanna Dunagan) and "Pop Pop" (Peter McRobbie), at least partly because when their mother left home 15 years earlier, something terrible apparently happened. At first things seem fine, but then Nana and Pop Pop start behaving strangely. Even if it can all be explained -- Nana gets "sundown" syndrome, and Pop Pop requires adult diapers -- it doesn't quite ease the feeling that something's wrong. Meanwhile, Becca documents their visit on video, hoping to capture something that explains it all.

Is It Any Good?

After several perplexing misfires, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has scaled back, gone for a lower budget and a lighter tone, and emerged with his most effective movie in over a decade. THE VISIT begins interestingly; the potentially creepy moments can be easily explained away and even laughed off, but the director still manages to create a subtle, creeping dread that steadily builds toward the climax.

Shyamalan uses the found-footage concept with more creativity than most other filmmakers, displaying his usual intriguing grasp of three-dimensional space, as well as empty space. The characters themselves are even aware of certain cinematic theories that could make their "documentary" more interesting. They're refreshingly intelligent and self-aware, and they never blunder stupidly into any situation. If the movie has a drawback, it's that fans will be looking hard for clues to one of Shyamalan's big "twists." As to what it is, or whether there is one, we're not saying.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Visit 's violence . How much is shown, and how much is suggested? How did it affect you? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Tyler considers himself a "ladykiller." Is his dialogue inappropriate for someone his age?

Tyler likes to rap and posts videos of himself. Is he expressing himself, or is he merely seeking fame? What's appealing about fame? Is it OK for kids to start their own online channels?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 11, 2015
• On DVD or streaming : January 5, 2016
• Cast : Kathryn Hahn , Ed Oxenbould , Olivia DeJonge
• Director : M. Night Shyamalan
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 94 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language
• Last updated : April 7, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

The Stepfather

The Blair Witch Project

Best horror movies, scary movies for kids.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

M. Night Shyamalan had his heyday almost 20 years ago. He leapt out of the gate with such confidence he became a champion instantly. And then...something went awry. He became embarrassingly self-serious, his films drowning in pretension and strained allegories. His famous twists felt like a director attempting to re-create the triumph of " The Sixth Sense ," where the twist of the film was so successfully withheld from audiences that people went back to see the film again and again. But now, here comes " The Visit ," a film so purely entertaining that you almost forget how scary it is. With all its terror, "The Visit" is an extremely funny film. 

There are too many horror cliches to even list ("gotcha" scares, dark basements, frightened children, mysterious sounds at night, no cellphone reception), but the main cliche is that it is a "found footage" film, a style already wrung dry. But Shyamalan injects adrenaline into it, as well as a frank admission that, yes, it is a cliche, and yes, it is absurd that one would keep filming in moments of such terror, but he uses the main strength of found footage: we are trapped by the perspective of the person holding the camera. Withhold visual information, lull the audience into safety, then turn the camera, and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT? 

"The Visit" starts quietly, with Mom ( Kathryn Hahn ) talking to the camera about running away from home when she was 19: her parents disapproved of her boyfriend. She had two kids with this man who recently left them all for someone new. Mom has a brave demeanor, and funny, too, referring to her kids as "brats" but with mama-bear affection. Her parents cut ties with her, but now they have reached out  from their snowy isolated farm and want to know their grandchildren. Mom packs the two kids off on a train for a visit.

Shyamalan breaks up the found footage with still shots of snowy ranks of trees, blazing sunsets, sunrise falling on a stack of logs. There are gigantic blood-red chapter markers: "TUESDAY MORNING", etc. These choices launch us into the overblown operatic horror style while commenting on it at the same time. It ratchets up the dread.

Becca ( Olivia DeJonge ) and Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) want to make a film about their mother's lost childhood home, a place they know well from all of her stories. Becca has done her homework about film-making, and instructs her younger brother about "frames" and "mise-en-scène." Tyler, an appealing gregarious kid, keeps stealing the camera to film the inside of his mouth and his improvised raps. Becca sternly reminds him to focus. 

The kids are happy to meet their grandparents. They are worried about the effect their grandparents' rejection had on their mother (similar to Cole's worry about his mother's unfinished business with her own parent in "The Sixth Sense"). Becca uses a fairy-tale word to explain what she wants their film to do — it will be an "elixir" to bring home to Mom. 

Nana ( Deanna Dunagan ), at first glance, is a Grandma out of a storybook, with a grey bun, an apron, and muffins coming out of the oven every hour. Pop Pop ( Peter McRobbie ) is a taciturn farmer who reminds the kids constantly that he and Nana are "old." 

But almost immediately, things get crazy. What is Pop Pop doing out in the barn all the time? Why does Nana ask Becca to clean the oven, insisting that she crawl all the way in ? What are those weird sounds at night from outside their bedroom door? They have a couple of Skype calls with Mom, and she reassures them their grandparents are "weird" but they're also old, and old people are sometimes cranky, sometimes paranoid. 

As the weirdness intensifies, Becca and Tyler's film evolves from an origin-story documentary to a mystery-solving investigation. They sneak the camera into the barn, underneath the house, they place it on a cabinet in the living room overnight, hoping to get a glimpse of what happens downstairs after they go to bed. What they see is more than they (and we) bargained for.

Dunagan and McRobbie play their roles with a melodramatic relish, entering into the fairy-tale world of the film. And the kids are great, funny and distinct. Tyler informs his sister that he wants to stop swearing so much, and instead will say the names of female pop singers. The joke is one that never gets old. He falls, and screams, "Sarah McLachlan!" When terrified, he whispers to himself, " Katy Perry ... " Tyler, filming his sister, asks her why she never looks in the mirror. "Your sweater is on backwards." As he grills her, he zooms in on her, keeping her face off-center, blurry grey-trunked trees filling most of the screen. The blur is the mystery around them. Cinematographer Maryse Alberti creates the illusion that the film is being made by kids, but also avoids the nauseating hand-held stuff that dogs the found-footage style.

When the twist comes, and you knew it was coming because Shyamalan is the director, it legitimately shocks. Maybe not as much as "The Sixth Sense" twist, but it is damn close. (The audience I saw it with gasped and some people screamed in terror.) There are references to " Halloween ", "Psycho" (Nana in a rocking chair seen from behind), and, of course, " Paranormal Activity "; the kids have seen a lot of movies, understand the tropes and try to recreate them themselves. 

"The Visit" represents Shyamalan cutting loose, lightening up, reveling in the improvisational behavior of the kids, their jokes, their bickering, their closeness. Horror is very close to comedy. Screams of terror often dissolve into hysterical laughter, and he uses that emotional dovetail, its tension and catharsis, in almost every scene. The film is ridiculous  on so many levels, the story playing out like the most monstrous version of Hansel & Gretel imaginable, and in that context, "ridiculous" is the highest possible praise.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

You Can Call Me Bill

Clint worthington.

Riddle of Fire

Robert daniels.

Disappear Completely

Brian tallerico.

A Bit of Light

Peyton robinson.

Under the Bridge

Cristina escobar.

Film Credits

The Visit (2015)

Rated PG-13 disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language

Kathryn Hahn as Mother

Ed Oxenbould as Tyler Jamison

Benjamin Kanes as Dad

Peter McRobbie as Pop-Pop

Olivia DeJonge as Rebecca Jamison

Deanna Dunagan as Nana

• M. Night Shyamalan

Cinematography

• Maryse Alberti
• Luke Franco Ciarrocch

Latest blog posts

The Jinx – Part Two Continues One of the Most Fascinating True Crime Sagas of All Time

Introducing Ebertfest 25's Film Critics and Scholars

It's OK For Movies to Just End

The Overlook Film Festival Highlights, Part 2: The Hands of Orlac, Kill Your Lover, Dead Mail, Red Rooms

• Universal Pictures

Summary A brother and sister are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip. Once the children discover that the elderly couple is involved in something deeply disturbing, they see their chances of getting back home are growing smaller every day.

Directed By : M. Night Shyamalan

Written By : M. Night Shyamalan

Where to Watch

Olivia DeJonge

Ed Oxenbould

Deanna Dunagan

Peter McRobbie

Kathryn Hahn

Celia Keenan-Bolger

Samuel stricklen, patch darragh, jorge cordova, steve annan, man on the street, benjamin kanes, ocean james, young becca, seamus moroney, young tyler, erica lynne arden, train passenger, kevin austra, street walker, richard barlow, police officer, john buscemi, evan charles, michelle rose domb, cruise passenger, brian gildea, critic reviews.

• All Reviews
• Positive Reviews
• Mixed Reviews
• Negative Reviews

User Reviews

Related movies.

Rosemary's Baby

The Bride of Frankenstein

Don't Look Now

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Frankenstein

Repulsion (re-release)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

It's Such a Beautiful Day

Eyes Without a Face [re-release]

Night of the Living Dead

The Innocents

The Invisible Man

The Wicker Man

I Saw the TV Glow

Related news.

Every Guy Ritchie Movie, Ranked

We rank every one of the British director's movies by Metascore, from his debut Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels to his brand new film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

2024 Movie Release Calendar

Jason dietz.

Find release dates for every movie coming to theaters, VOD, and streaming throughout 2024 and beyond, updated weekly.

April Movie Preview (2024)

Keith kimbell.

The month ahead will bring new films from Alex Garland, Luca Guadagnino, Dev Patel, and more. To help you plan your moviegoing options, our editors have selected the most notable films releasing in April 2024, listed in alphabetical order.

DVD/Blu-ray Releases: New & Upcoming

Find a list of new movie and TV releases on DVD and Blu-ray (updated weekly) as well as a calendar of upcoming releases on home video.

SXSW 2024 Recap: Best and Worst Films

Which films impressed reviewers during the 2024 edition of the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival? We recap the reactions of critics to all of this year's major SXSW premieres and tell you which titles won the festival's major awards.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘the visit’: film review.

Grandpa has a dirty secret and Granny goes bump in the night in M. Night Shyamalan’s comic horror-thriller

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

A family get-together starts out strange and quickly enters nightmare territory in  The Visit , a horror-thriller that turns soiled adult diapers into a motif. Told from a camera-equipped kids’-eye view, M. Night Shyamalan ’s latest is well cast and strong on setting. But the dull thudding that resounds isn’t part of its effective aural design; it’s the ungainly landing of nearly every shock and joke.

Notwithstanding the evidence of Shyamalan’s  features since the pitch-perfect Sixth Sense , hope endures among fans that lightning will strike twice. In the wake of bloated recent outings After Earth and The Last Airbender , that hope takes on a particular fervency with this modestly scaled return to straight-up genre fare. That anticipation will drive theatrical business for the feature, as will the lure of sheer horror fun, at least until word-of-mouth stems the box-office tide.

Related Stories

Catherine o'hara, kathryn hahn among cast joining apple's seth rogen comedy 'the studio', sam mercer, producer of m. night shyamalan films, dies at 69.

Early in the film, there’s a wonderful moment when a mom’s exuberant clowning shifts to tears. Played by the terrific Kathryn Hahn , she’s a divorced woman seeing her kids off at the train station. From that point on, the energy, warmth and nuance of her performance is reduced to intermittent Skype sessions — a crucial element to the story but nonetheless a letdown for the viewer.

To give Mom time alone with her boyfriend, teenage Becca ( Olivia DeJonge ) and tween Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ), a serious germophobe and aspiring rapper, have volunteered for a weeklong stay at the Pennsylvania farm of their grandparents. It’s an especially generous offer given that they’ve never before met Nana and Pop Pop ( Deanna Dunagan and  Peter McRobbie ).

Read more Critic’s Notebook: Buoyed By Jobs and Bulger Biopics , Telluride Delivers

But there’s more to it than generosity; the camera-wielding siblings, budding auteur Becca in particular, sense an opportunity to make a documentary that uncovers the generational rift between their grandparents and their mother, who left the farm as a teenager under circumstances she refuses to discuss.

The grands prove no more forthcoming on the subject, but that’s the least of the kids’ worries as they’re confronted with Nana’s nocturnal rages, usually unclothed, and Pop Pop’s unsavory stockpile in the shed. Determined not to be one of those people who fear the elderly “for no reason,” Becca chooses to ignore the ample reasons before her. While Tyler goes eagerly sniffing for trouble, she accepts the rational explanations Nana and Pop Pop give her for their increasingly bizarre and unsettling behavior.

Through it all, she and her brother shoot their documentary. Cinematographer  Maryse Alberti captures the sense of a nonstop work in progress, seen through the lenses of the kids’ video cameras and laptop, with reality-style interviews, off-center framing and p.o.v. night footage a la Blair Witch . Shyamalan uses the various devices to tiring effect and without conjuring the requisite deep chills.

Playing off the winking self-consciousness of the film-within-a-film, there’s a jokey aspect to the feints and shock cuts. The writer-director’s would-be sendup of down-home country comfort tries to have fun with fairy-tale terrors. The result is almost always mechanical rather than exciting or funny, despite the actors’ layered performances — the self-aware kids, Dunagan’s otherworldly weirdness and McRobbie’s unnerving deadpan.

The rural winter backdrop works as a fitting contrast to Mom’s Skype dispatches from her sunny cruise-ship vacation. Within what’s essentially a single setting, Shyamalan and Alberti keep things visually diverse but cohesive, while Naaman Marshall ’s clean farmhouse interiors avoid the common trap of overdesign .

A Jungian therapist might have a field day with the story’s plunge into the nigredo , the aspect of alchemy that involves putrefaction and decomposition (those diapers!). But the unpleasantly memorable moments of the movie’s dark mix hardly compensate for the dull sludge surrounding it. Attempts to liven things up with Oxenbould’s raps don’t do the trick either. And given the lack of gripping storytelling, the big twist arrives as more of a “hmmm” moment than a ground-shaking thrill.

The movie isn’t without an emotional core, though: It’s Hahn’s mostly absent character, and although she’s called upon to deliver the heavy-handed moral of the story, she manages to make every moment she’s onscreen ring true.

In one of the few gags that connects in this missed opportunity of a film, Tyler utters the names of female singers rather than cursing when he’s upset or disappointed. To borrow that conceit, a fair response to The Visit might be “Cher, Rihanna, Dolly Parton.”

Production companies: Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Olivia DeJonge , Ed Oxenbould , Deanna Dunagan , Peter McRobbie , Celia Keenan-Bolger , Samuel Stricklen , Patch Darragh Director: M. Night Shyamalan Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan Producers: Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock , M. Night Shyamalan Executive producers: Steven Schneider, Ashwin Rajan Director of photography: Maryse Alberti Production designer: Naaman Marshall Costume designer: Amy Westcott Editor: Luke Ciarrocchi Casting director: Douglas Aibel Rated PG-13, 94 minutes

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Bafta confirms date for 2025 awards, netflix adds cesc gay-directed drama ’53 domingos’ to spanish film slate, ‘rebel moon — part two: the scargiver’ review: zack snyder, netflix, rinse, repeat, jenna fischer filmed ‘mean girls’ with a broken shoulder: “the wildest experience”, m. night shyamalan’s ‘trap’ trailer features josh hartnett as a serial killer at a concert, leonardo dicaprio had “a lot of great ideas” for lex luthor in ‘batman v superman’.

Advertisement

Supported by

Review: ‘The Visit’ Is ‘Hansel and Gretel’ With Less Candy and More Camcorders

• Share full article

By Manohla Dargis

• Sept. 10, 2015

In “The Visit,” an amusingly grim fairy tale, floorboards creak, doors squeak and lights lower and sometimes shriek to black. The story, a “Hansel and Gretel” redo for Generation Selfie, has the virtue of simplicity and familiarity: A young brother and sister travel into the deep, dark woods, but where they once innocently held hands, they’re now holding camcorders to record an adventure quickened by anxious laughs, yelps and screams and one shivery long knife. These children don’t need someone else to immortalize their once-upon-a-time; they just point and shoot.

The director M. Night Shyamalan has a fine eye and a nice, natural way with actors, and he has a talent for gently rap-rap-rapping on your nerves. At his best, he skillfully taps the kinds of primitive fears that fuel scary campfire stories and horror flicks; at his worst, he tries too hard to be an auteur instead of just good, letting his overwrought stories and self-consciousness get in the way of his technique. After straining at originality for too long, he has gone back to basics in “The Visit,” with a stripped-down story and scale, a largely unknown (excellent) cast and one of those classically tinged tales of child peril that have reliably spooked audiences for generations.

This Hansel and Gretel come equipped not only with his-and-her cameras but also a Spielbergian family dynamic, featuring a loving if somewhat distracted single mother (Kathryn Hahn) and an absent father. One of those well-meaning women whose desires unwittingly unleash a world of chaos, Mom (as she’s credited) opens the movie with some yammering, squirming like a witness for the prosecution in front of a camera operated by her off-screen daughter, Becca (an appealing Olivia DeJonge). Becca and her younger brother, Tyler (Ed Oxenbould, a charmingly exuberant scene-stealer), are to stay with their maternal grandparents while Mom and her boyfriend go on a cruise, and Becca has decided to make a documentary about the trip, the first of many references to moviemaking.

Movie Review: ‘The Visit’

The times critic manohla dargis reviews “the visit.”.

In narrative terms, Mr. Shyamalan keeps it streamlined and simple. Becca and Tyler travel alone to visit their grandparents Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), whom the children have never met or seen in photos. As Mom tells Becca, she hasn’t been in touch with her parents since she left home years earlier, for reasons she refuses to explain, introducing a mystery that ignites a smoldering ember of doubt. Ms. Hahn, an appealingly disheveled blur, does a nice job of setting the enigmatic scene. With her beseeching eyes, Mom looks as if she’s asking for forgiveness, even as the laughter convulsing her mouth insists everything is all right. (Ms. Hahn, one of those screen presences who pushes and pulls at you, at times brings to mind a softer-edged Karen Black.)

Most of what follows takes place in Nana and Pop Pop’s house, an isolated storybook spread. Mr. Shyamalan sets a nice farmhouse scene, with an interior that looks copied straight from Heartland Monthly, complete with sagging armchairs, plank flooring and a rag rug as big as a Volkswagen. The grandparents, in turn, are pure Grant Wood types: gray, lean, almost stringy and a little hard. If they were older or the movie were, you could imagine them hardscrabbling their way through the Depression or driving a Model T out of Oklahoma. To that end, Ms. Dunagan and Mr. McRobbie at first play it largely straight and opaque, with the kind of tightly wound smiles and controlled gestures that suggest Puritan stock or perhaps madness.

Something weird slithers in, first in a crawlspace and then when Nana asks Becca for help cleaning the mischievously large oven, which was apparently built for roasting pigs and other juicy creatures. A total tease, Mr. Shyamalan has fun deploying such time-tested horror tricks, and conducts an entire orchestra of squeaks and screeches amid the shock cuts and Becca and Tyler’s cockeyed camera angles. He also plays with the filmmaking theme, mostly through Becca, a pretentious baby auteur who throws around terms like mise-en-scène. As the scares gather, though, and she loses directorial control, Becca becomes what she always was: every filmgoer (and critic) who thinks she knows everything about making movies, which may be why Mr. Shyamalan so enjoys tormenting her.

“The Visit” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It’s a hard world for little things.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

As “Sex and the City” became more widely available on Netflix, younger viewers have watched it with a critical eye . But its longtime millennial and Gen X fans can’t quit.

Hoa Xuande had only one Hollywood credit when he was chosen to lead “The Sympathizer,” the starry HBO adaptation of a prize-winning novel. He needed all the encouragement he could get .

Even before his new film “Civil War” was released, the writer-director Alex Garland faced controversy over his vision of a divided America  with Texas and California as allies.

Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions,” a comedy about millennials weathering the early days of the pandemic , will ask audiences to return to a time that many people would rather forget.

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Well, it's not in the same league as The Sixth Sense , but director M. Night Shyamalan ends a long dry spell with The Visit. It's a blend of mirth and malice that combines Grimm fairy tales with the found-footage gimmick of Paranormal Activity . A mom (Kathryn Hahn) sends her two kids (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould), both experts with digital cameras, to visit her estranged parents. It's all smiles until Grandma (Deanna Dunagan, wowza) gets naked and Grandpa (Peter McRobbie) does strange things with his adult diapers. No spoilers, except to say that cheap thrills can still be a blast. Not enough to make up for Shyamalan's awful After Earth , but it's a start.

'Fallout' Renewed for Second Season at Amazon

• Playin' Video Games
• By Tomás Mier

OK, But Why Is M. Night Shyamalan's Killer-at-a-Concert Movie Set During the Day?

• Fun in the Sun
• By Jon Blistein

Why Does 'The Jinx Part 2' Exist at All?

• By Alan Sepinwall

Glen Powell Becomes a Master of Disguise in Latest 'Hit Man' Trailer

• Contract Killer
• By Kalia Richardson

Linda Perry Opens Up About Self-Abuse, Nonstop Hustle in 'Let It Die Here' Trailer

• Getting Vulnerable

Most Popular

Ryan gosling and kate mckinnon's 'close encounter' sketch sends 'snl' cold open into hysterics, the rise and fall of gerry turner's stint as abc's first 'golden bachelor', michael douglas is the latest actor to make controversial remarks about intimacy coordinators, masters 2024 prize money pegged at $20m, up $2m from prior year, you might also like, hollywood legend phil tippett, rkss’ anouk whissell bring brand new projects to powerful, rangy cannes frontières selection (exclusive) , p&g beats on eps, but disappoints on sales in q3, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, ‘curb your enthusiasm’ season 12 sets premiere date — exclusive, for vr prophets, 3dtv serves as a lebron-sized cautionary tale.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

Screen Rant

The visit review.

The Visit is a fun and kitschy horror parable - though the trademark Shyamalan twist will be a big disappoint for many viewers.

The Visit  is a fun and kitschy horror parable - though the trademark Shyamalan twist will be a big disappoint for many viewers.

The Visit   follows Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), two siblings who head out to rural Pennsylvania to document the meeting of their estranged grandparents, last seen when their mother (Kathryn Hahn) left home fifteen years ago. When Becca and Tyler arrive at Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop's (Peter McRobbie) farm, they immediately set about crafting the documentary with the intent of showing how their mother leaving home at a young age echoes the pattern of their own father abandoning them when they needed him the most.

However, as Becca and Tyler focus the lens closer on Nana and Pop Pop the more abnormal their subjects reveal themselves to be. As the week-long visit crawls along, the cracks in the grandparents' good-natured facade widen and widen, finally exploding in a fit of horror that Becca and Tyler must fight to survive.

The latest film from beleaguered filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan,  The Visit  is a fun and kitschy horror parable - though the trademark Shyamalan twist will be a big disappoint for many viewers.

Shyamalan both wrote and directed  The Visit , and as his critics might expect, it's a "blessing and a curse" package. On the directorial front, there isn't much crafting or technique to speak of, due to the found-footage format of the film. Like every movie in the (tired) sub-genre, the found-footage "technique" involves coming up with reasonable scenarios and context for people to be filming themselves - and to continue doing so, even when in peril. While the The Visit does manage to root its voyeuristic perspective in both the narrative themes and the personality matrixes of the two main characters, the format nonetheless feels binding, and in moments of real fright or action the usual shaky cam antics disrupt the viewing experience. In short: if you don't like found-footage, you won't like this found-footage movie.

On paper, however, The Visit  does manage to capture a lot of the richness of classic '70s or early '80s horror, unfortunately wrapping it around a flimsy twist - one that will likely elicit more bad stigma for Shyamalan, the crowned king of flimsy twists. To the movie's credit, Shyamalan does what good horror storytellers are supposed to: he takes a familiar and relatable concept (going to visit your grandparents) and twists it into something unfamiliar and menacing.  The Visit  indeed has that "campfire ghost story" quality that could've made it an enduring horror parable - so for anyone who likes their fright flicks on that level (read: creepy more than scary or gruesome) this will be a nice fit. The tone of the story is also blessedly kitschy and always self-aware enough to not take itself too seriously, which creates a level of horror/comedy that fans can at least laugh along  with  (as opposed to  at ).

The cast of characters are drawn well enough, though the two main characters may put-off viewers who can't appreciate the level of meta humor in the would-be media stars. Both Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould thankfully polish their characters into genuine modern (pre-)teens, fleshing out the otherwise flat caricatures of pretentious film snob and "ethnically confused" suburban rapper - personas the movie pokes fun at. In certain scenes where more drama and depth are required, both young leads actually deliver quite well, and Shyamalan interjects some genuine heart and drama into the film (though those same dramatic moments, while quality on their own, feel a bit at odds with the otherwise horror kitsch tone of the film).

Deanna Dunagan ( Unforgettable ) and Peter McRobbie ( Daredevil ) jump in with both feet to the roles of Nana and Pop Pop, respectively. Though the movie keeps the oddball old couple at arm's length, the two veteran character actors own every scene they're in, sometimes with just body movements and glances.  The Visit  only keeps traction because of what Dunagan and McRobbie can deliver; if nothing else, the electricity of what they  might  do keeps every scene they're in lively and riveting. On the peripheral, Kathryn Hahn pops in for a funny light portrayal as "The Mom," only to have to swing all that funny charm over into some key (overly heavy?) dramatic moments.

In the end,  The Visit  is fine horror matinée (or future rental) material for fans who don't mind the kitchsy campfire story style of the film. Those hoping for Shyamalan to continue his 'comeback' after the success of  Wayward Pines , or for the filmmaker to deliver another twist on par with  The Sixth Sense , will end up walking away disappointed.

The Visit  is now playing in theaters. It is 94 minutes and is Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language.

Agree/disagree with this review? Feel free to let us know how you feel in the comment section!

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

• DVD & Streaming
• Comedy , Horror , Mystery/Suspense

Content Caution

In Theaters

• September 11, 2015
• Olivia DeJonge as Becca; Ed Oxenbould as Tyler; Kathryn Hahn as Loretta (Mom); Deanna Dunagan as Nana; Peter McRobbie as Pop Pops

Home Release Date

• January 5, 2016
• M. Night Shyamalan

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

It’s not that Becca and Tyler are really excited about taking a trip to see their estranged grandparents. After all, they’ve never even met them before. In fact, since their mom stormed out of her parents’ lives when she was 19, she hasn’t really seen or spoken to them either. But Nana and Pop Pops have repeatedly reached out in hopes of meeting the kids. And from Becca’s perspective, this trip, this newly forged connection could be a perfect opportunity.

Namely, that it will allow Becca to procure the “elixir” her mom so desperately needs.

To most people that kind of talk probably sounds overly dramatic. But that’s the kind of introspective, bright and thoughtful teen Becca is. She’s determined to record their whole trip as a sort of cinéma vérité that will serve the dual purpose of school project and, well, mythical quest.

You see, ever since her father found “something better” and walked out on them all a few years back, everything in their family has been on a downward spiral. Her young brother is oddly germophobic. Becca has become sort of adverse to looking in the mirror. Worse, Mom can’t seem to break out of a pattern of self-defeating choices.

If, in the course of this interview-based documentary video, Becca can help her grandparents and her mom see just how much they miss each other, just how much they need each other, why, Becca’s pretty sure that could set everything on the right path again. It would be the magical healing elixir that her family needs.

That shouldn’t be too hard to make happen, should it? I mean, that’s what families are supposed to do. No matter how harshly Mom has spoken of her parents in the past, they can’t be that bad! Surely they can forgive and forget.

They’re not monsters, after all.

Positive Elements

Becca’s efforts to get the forgiveness elixir for her mom is both selfless and lovingly thoughtful. And at one point Mom even admits that forgiveness and reparation with her parents have always been within her reach. She recognizes, finally, that it was pride that made her refuse to grasp onto them. She encourages her daughter to never make that same mistake. “Please don’t hold on to anger, Becca” she tells the girl.

Both Becca and Tyler fight to protect each other.

Sexual Content

We see that Mom and her newest boyfriend are enjoying a week away together at a beach retreat getaway. During a Skype session, Mom dances around in a bikini top. Nana accidentally displays her bare backside and, on another occasion, is seen fully nude from the rear. Tyler poses in a video clip with his shirt off, reportedly offering a little “candy for the ladies.” He raps about puberty and his appeal to “skanks” and “hos” at his school. Women ogle shirtless men who are showing off in a contest.

Violent Content

Pop Pops explains that Nana suffers from a specific dementia (called “sundowning”) that only takes hold of her at night. We see her running around the house slamming and scraping at the walls. As the condition worsens, she pounds herself in the head, swings a knife threateningly and smashes Becca face-first into a mirror (which shatters). The kids catch Pop Pops with a shotgun barrel in his mouth.

One woman is hanged. Another is stabbed repeatedly with a large shard of glass. We see a hammer covered in caked blood and hair, and two decaying corpses. Both kids are battered and pummeled—thrown to the ground, bloodied with blows and dragged by the hair. A man is tackled, kicked and has his head slammed repeatedly into a refrigerator door (just out of the frame).

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word and two s-words join one or two uses each of “h—,” “a–” and “b–ch.” God’s name is combined once with “d–n.” Tyler flips his middle finger at his sister. He decides he wants to use female pop star names instead of swear words, turning artists such as Shakira and Katy Perry into joke-focused cusses.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Nana smokes a cigarette. Tyler mimes smoking a joint.

Other Negative Elements

Vomit and excrement are used for the dual purposes of humor and horror, with someone getting a face full of the latter.

What is it that teeters and totters a dramatic movie over into the realm of horror? Some filmmakers believe that push demands twisted depictions of horrid gruesomeness. Others opt for shocking creepy-crawlies that leap from the shadows and skitter across the ceiling.

Here, famed suspense director M. Night Shyamalan suggests that horror only requires a youthful point of view and a pair of grandparents showing the weaknesses of old age—frailties that include such things as the spits and spats of dementia and the embarrassing bodily rebellion of incontinence. And that quirky concept, quite frankly, is what gives The Visit its initial sense of humor and freshness in this genre.

(Though freshness is perhaps the wrong descriptor when we’re talking about soiled adult diapers, isn’t it?)

The Visit ends with some solidly wise advice. And it’s certainly more palatable than your average bloodcurdling, R-rated gush-in-the-nighter. But like all horror pics, the things that disquiet us most must be amplified before they reach mall multiplexes. Which means odd nocturnal movements become frantic and crazed. Awkward dribbles become spews. Before you know it, the zest of an original perspective explodes against the screen in predictably wincing and foul and violent ways.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

Latest Reviews

Irena’s Vow

Dune: Part Two

Weekly Reviews Straight to your Inbox!

• Become a Critical Movie Critic
• Movie Review Archives

Movie Review: The Visit (2015)

• Movie Reviews
• 12 responses
• --> September 12, 2015

I love M. Night Shyamalan movies and I have no qualms about admitting that I’m a fan. I was hooked from “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable,” and I stand by my contention that “The Village” is a fantastic film that was poorly and incorrectly marketed as a horror film when it’s clearly not. And . . . get ready for this one: I adore “Lady in the Water.” Yes, yes, I understand many of you are groaning in pain right now, but I loved the lack of the audience-expected twist, and I loved that it was a straight-up fantasy film set in contemporary times. However, eventually fans are disappointed by their directors, so when “ The Happening ” . . . um, happened . . . I was hugely let down, and this is where Shyamalan lost me; I never bothered to see “ The Last Airbender ” or “After Earth” as I joined the majority of the filmgoing world that felt he’d lost his touch. Until now. Wherever the heck he went, whatever soul-searching he went through, whatever he’s been doing — holy Toledo, it worked. The Visit is one of Shyamalan’s best films.

Shyamalan has made his career on dodging pigeonholes — each film is a different type. “The Sixth Sense” was his thriller, “Unbreakable” was a superhero movie before that was even a fully-developed genre, and “Signs” was his sci-fier. “The Village” was a period piece, followed by his fantasy “Lady in the Water.” Today, it’s clear Shyamalan has been paying close attention to the last fifteen years of horror and suspense, because with The Visit he’s given us one of the best found-footage horror films I’ve seen in years.

A “documentary” filmed and edited by fifteen-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge, “The Sisterhood of Night”), The Visit chronicles a week-long visit by Becca and her thirteen-year-old brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould, “ Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ”). The film opens on an interview with their mother (Kathryn Hahn, “ Tomorrowland ”), who explains that she fell in love with their now-absent father when she was nineteen. She references a very bad afternoon that was the catalyst for her fifteen year separation from her parents, and tells Becca that their grandparents were actually the ones to finally reach out after so long.

In the hopes of reconciliation, Mom agrees to allow Becca and Tyler visit their grandparents in the country for a week while she takes a short vacation with her new boyfriend. Excited by the opportunity, budding filmmaker Becca brings her cameras and enlists Tyler as her B-camera operator.

Typical found-footage exposition carries us to Masonville, PA by train, and the story picks up quickly once the teens arrive at the farm. Becca and Tyler are welcomed by sweet homemaker Nana (Deanna Dunagan, “Just Like a Woman”) and hardworking, old-school Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie, “ Inherent Vice ”) who share their lives with them during the day, and tuck them in for the night at 9:30pm. Over the next few days, Becca and Tyler witness incredibly strange behavior from their Nana and Pop Pop — Nana shuffles through the house at night, and Pop Pop is extremely secretive about a shed on the property — but each explains away the behavior with excuses of elderly sundowning and embarrassment about getting older. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg, and Becca and Tyler find themselves encountering stranger and more unsettling behavior as the week goes on.

With The Visit , M. Night Shyamalan has written and directed an incredibly well-crafted found-footage film. The juxtaposition of tension and comic relief is staggeringly masterful, especially since found-footage has been so overdone (poorly), and he wields the unfamiliar setting of the farmhouse powerfully against both Becca and Tyler and the audience. The four main characters are stellar personalities, and each one stands out for a different reason: Becca is the young filmmaker who takes her work very seriously, carefully crafting frames and cinematic scenes for her documentary; Pop Pop takes extreme pride in being a strong farmworker, but struggles greatly with his increasing age; Nana is kind and fun-loving, baking cookies and playing hide and seek with her grandchildren, but fights to retain control of her faculties in the evening. Finally, there’s Tyler, who absolutely steals the show. At first, he’s just a caricature — a thirteen-year-old kid who thinks he’s the next successful rap artist — but as the film continues, he very quickly becomes the best character onscreen. Oxenbould breaks out from the screen with Tyler’s quick wit, hilarious self-retakes, and decision to give up cursing, substituting the names of female pop artists for four-letter words. He is the crux of the essential comic relief; with each scene of extreme tension and suspense, Shyamalan pairs a scene with Tyler acting like the little brother you wouldn’t mind tagging along. Without him, the movie would lose half its effect.

There are so many fantastic things about this movie that it’s impossible to fully explain the experience without spoiling plotpoints. This is absolutely a film you must see in the theater, and with a crowd of people if you can. Seeing The Visit is like seeing “The Blair Witch Project” or “ Paranormal Activity ” in the theater again; the best part of seeing an incredible horror film is enduring the tension and enjoying the laughs that follow. Everyone is still and silent until the tension breaks, and everyone relaxes together, laughing at how high out of their seats they jumped. As a seasoned horror fan, I was thrilled by how effectively Shyamalan directed these moments again and again and again. There are bona fide jumps, there are incredibly creepy moments throughout, and most impressive is how simple, yet potent, each scare really is.

M. Night Shyamalan has taken a genre that has gotten old very, very quickly, and has given us a film that not only revitalizes the enjoyment of seeing a horror movie in the theater; it has definitely revitalized his career. No matter when or why you gave up on his movies, you must give this one a watch. The Visit is “The Sixth Sense” good and this ex-fan is absolutely back on board, excited to see what comes next.

Tagged: family , farm , found footage , grandchildren

School teacher by day. Horror aficionado by night.

Movie Review: Little Fish (2020) Movie Review: The Unholy (2021) Movie Review: The Mark of the Bell Witch (2020) Movie Review: Chop Chop (2020) Movie Review: Coven of Evil (2020) Movie Review: Mara (2018) Movie Review: The First Purge (2018)

'Movie Review: The Visit (2015)' have 12 comments

September 12, 2015 @ 1:55 pm craz

M. Night Shyamalan finally made a good movie again. This movie has a great mix of scares and laughs and his trademark surprise wasn’t forced in for the sake of having a twist.

Log in to Reply

September 12, 2015 @ 2:27 pm Tomahawk

It’s a good movie but I can’t help but think it would be better received if Shyamalan’s name wasn’t attached to it.

September 12, 2015 @ 2:43 pm Miranda

I’m going to see it tomight

September 12, 2015 @ 3:30 pm Jackson Gee

It’s a solid horror film. Not the scariest around but it’s got a good creepy suspenseful vibe going for it. I hope Shyamalan can capitalize on this rediscovery of his talent.

September 12, 2015 @ 8:02 pm soapdish

Or just stop trying so hard. Keep it simple and good things will come of it.

September 12, 2015 @ 10:22 pm bazzarus

Rediscovery? Other than Avatar, he’s been directing films his way. His trivialization is from people just hating on him to hate on him.

September 12, 2015 @ 3:51 pm golden lass

I went in with the lowest of expectations because Shyamalan burned me one to many times. I’m happy to report it’s his best film since Signs but I’m still going to remain cautious for his next title – I’m not convinced he won’t fall into his old habits.

September 12, 2015 @ 5:17 pm fashionably_denim

Stick to horror M. Stay away from cartoon properties and actors last named Smith.

September 12, 2015 @ 5:29 pm blink183

LisaPas, outstanding review. I’ll be paying The Visit a visit during the week!

September 12, 2015 @ 8:45 pm tviolinist

kid is funny but a lousy rapper. found footage shlock is as irritating as ever. movie is nothing special, good for a one time watch maybe

September 13, 2015 @ 7:41 am bloodparty

It’s not Shyamalan’s best nor do I think it is he ‘rebirth’ but it is the best horror film of the year when you consider the ‘big-name’ competition: Insidious: Chapter 3, Sinister 2, The Lazarus Effect, and Poltergeist.

September 13, 2015 @ 7:13 pm Last Impulse

Visit is just as overhype as all the other Shylaminamindingdong stuff.

Privacy Policy | About Us

 |  Log in

Find Family Movies, Movie Ratings and Movie Reviews

The Visit (2015) Parent Guide

Unfortunately, this film struggles to deliver the fear factor that has been seen in other productions write and/or directed by m. night shyamalan..

For two teenaged children (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould), a visit to Grandma’s house turns out to be more dangerous than it did for Little Red Riding Hood, when it becomes apparent that the elderly woman and her husband (Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie) are not the sweet little old couple they first appear to be.

Release date September 11, 2015

Run Time: 94 minutes

Official Movie Site

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

It’s been a few years since M. Night Shyamalan has attempted to spook audiences. With The Visit the director takes some pages from the classic children’s story Hansel and Gretel and adds a dash of Little Red Riding Hood to create a film that places two kids into grandma and grandpa’s strange abode.

Teenage Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are frequently assuring their mother (Kathryn Hahn) that all will be fine if she takes some time away from them to go on a cruise with her boyfriend. Mom is still nervous about the arrangement of leaving her children with her parents, from whom she’s been estranged for the past fifteen years. At the same time Becca, who, like her brother, has never met her grandparents, is anxious to have an adventure and try out her hand at filming the experience as a documentary.

The kids are advised to go to bed at 9:30 and stay in their room. But when peculiar noises begin to keep them up at night they venture out to see what’s happening. Peering down the steps Becca is startled to see her grandmother rapidly pacing back and forth and then suddenly vomiting. Another night Tyler cracks open the bedroom door and finds a naked Nana (of which we share a rear view) scraping at the wall. Grandpa also has issues. His frequent visits to an old shed trigger Tyler’s curiosity and end up sending the boy’s germ phobia into overdrive.

When questioned individually Pop Pop explains his wife is struggling with symptoms of dementia and that the kids should not be alarmed. In similar manner, Nana talks to them about Pop Pop’s incontinence issues and how he is embarrassed by the problem. The discussions help Becca to settle into the week, however Tyler is still agitated by their behavior, which seems to become more extreme with each passing day.

The casting of these young protagonists may imply this film is suitable for similar aged audiences. Parents will want to be cautious with this assumption. These kids will find themselves in a serious situation that, while not often explicitly violent, may be bothersome for many—especially for young viewers with family members experiencing mental illness. A couple of scenes of abuse and images of dead corpses are brief but disturbing, as is a scene where a germ-sensitivity is exasperated by having the sufferer’s face maliciously covered in fecal matter. There are also some profanities and brief sexual banter.

Unfortunately this film also struggles to deliver the fear factor hoped for by the writer of the amazingly suspenseful The Sixth Sense . Instead, the bulk of this screenplay meanders at a slow pace until we reach the final concluding moments. Looking back we recognize the scare is dependent on audiences buying into many assumptions and coincidences that don’t hold up well during after-movie discussions.

The production does deliver some jump moments and even tries to convey a moral message as a take away from Grandma’s house. But with the script moving across the line that separates scaring children versus abusing them, The Visit becomes a destination you will likely want to pass by.

About author

Rod Gustafson

The visit (2015) rating & content info.

Why is The Visit (2015) rated PG-13? The Visit (2015) is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language.

Violence: A man knocks over and hits another man whom he suspects is spying on him. One character smears feces on another. Elderly characters behave strangely, including forgetting dates, becoming paranoid, laughing hysterically, running around naked, crawling on the floor, pacing aimlessly and making peculiar requests (such as asking a child to get in the oven). A man is seen with a gun in his mouth. Characters are threatened with a butcher knife. Corpses are shown and a body is seen hanging from a tree. Characters are in peril, which results in a fight for their lives—bloody injuries are shown. Deaths are implied. A domestic fight is discussed.

Sexual Content: A romance between a high school student and a teacher is discussed. A teen boy makes sexual comments, as well as using sexual slurs and slang terms in the lyrics of his rap music. Teens briefly banter about sexual topics. An unmarried couple goes on vacation together. An elderly couple kisses and hugs affectionately. A shirtless thirteen-year-old boy films himself and makes comments about being sexually alluring. An adult male participates in hairy chest competition. A woman is seen in a bikini. An elderly woman is seen with her bare buttocks exposed, and later completely naked (shown from the back) – to which a teenaged boy expresses repulsion. Incontinence is discussed and dirty adult diapers are shown. A character vomits.

Language: A sexual expletive is uttered and a sexual finger gesture is shown. Mild and moderate profanities, scatological slang, and terms of deity are used. Some vulgar sexual comments and slang terms are heard. Mild name-calling occurs. A child uses names of celebrities as a substitute for swearwords.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters smoke cigarettes.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Visit (2015) Parents' Guide

What things about this script make the story appear credible? What things seem implausible? How do these elements make the movie feel either more or less believable?

Both Nana and Pop Pop are behaving strangely. Each takes time to explain to their grandchildren what the other is suffering from. The conditions mentioned are actually real, and are often forms or symptoms of dementia . Learn more about sundowning and incontinence .

How have past disappointments affected the relationships of this family? How have they impacted the individuals? Which of the characters hope that a reunion will repair some of the damage. What lessons might they learn from their past problems? How easy do you think it is to heal from this kind of trauma?

The most recent home video release of The Visit (2015) movie is January 5, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: The Visit Release Date: 5 January 2016 The Visit releases to home video (Blu-ray or DVD) with the following extras: - The Making of The Visit - Becca’s Photos

Related home video titles:

M. Night Shyamalan also wrote and directed The Sixth Sense , Signs and The Village . Ed Oxenbould can be seen in light-hearted children’s movie Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day .

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Civil War Link to Civil War
• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• Scoop Link to Scoop

New TV Tonight

• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Under the Bridge: Season 1
• Conan O'Brien Must Go: Season 1
• Our Living World: Season 1
• The Spiderwick Chronicles: Season 1
• Orlando Bloom: To the Edge: Season 1
• The Circle: Season 6
• Dinner with the Parents: Season 1
• Jane: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Fallout: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• X-Men '97: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• The Sympathizer: Season 1 Link to The Sympathizer: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Video Game TV Shows Ranked by Tomatometer

MGM: 100 Years, 100 Essential Movies

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

TV Premiere Dates 2024

Hulu’s Under the Bridge : Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone on Respecting Reena Virk’s Memory

• Trending on RT
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
• Play Movie Trivia
• Baby Reindeer

The Visit Reviews

More important than the technical precision of the actors' turns is the rapport they all share--which ultimately lends this story of a family its authentic, immediate poignancy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 14, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 9, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 10, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 65/100 | Dec 8, 2001

It couldn't possibly work without a transcendent central performance. Harper gives us that, and more.

Full Review | Apr 26, 2001

It's hard not to give it bonus points for avoiding prison movie clichs and for taking a long, unblinking look at the complex dynamics of one American family.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 20, 2001

A testament to the tenacity of the family, particularly the African American family.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 20, 2001

Feels dreadfully slow and often inert.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2001

A spare and moving study of regret and redemption, marked with chilling truths about a life behind bars.

Contains some effective performances, not least from Hill Harper as Alex, the hero.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 20, 2001

Powerfully depicts the flowering of spiritual redemption within a young man who has every reason to give in to despair.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 20, 2001

Harper ... turns in a powerful, nuanced performance and alone makes The Visit worth your time.

At its best when considering measures of masculinity and dread of not living up to them.

It backs up its earnest quality with a minimum of sentimentality and a cast-full of straightforward, moving performances.

Full Review | Apr 19, 2001

The very strong performances in this low-budget film deserve a better narrative structure to strut their stuff.

A better venue for The Visit might be PBS or HBO, where its method-y intimacy would feel less forced.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Apr 19, 2001

Good acting abounds.

Full Review | Apr 16, 2001

Too bad it's swamped by good intentions.

Overloaded with extra characters, tangled story lines, dance numbers, fantasies and flashbacks.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 16, 2001

There are some good performances and the material speaks to some powerful issues.

The Visit (2015): Film Review

• Edgar Ortega
• February 15, 2023

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit broke the director’s run of critically panned films with a campy thriller that takes advantage of the found footage sub-genre.

Who doesn’t love a good comeback story? Hollywood certainly does. After all, when we’re watching a film or TV show play out, we like rooting for the little guy to pick themselves right up after being knocked down in the half-point of the narrative. When it comes to comeback stories in the industry, nobody has quite as remarkable a journey as M. Night Shyamalan . One day he found himself on top of the world, the next he was at the very bottom. The Visit was the movie that gave his career a second shot and broke his streak of controversial projects.

In The Visit , a single mother (Kathryn Hahn, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery ) sends her daughter Becca (Olivia DeJonge, Elvis ) and son Tyler (Ed Oxenbould, Irreverent ) to spend quality time with their grandparents by themselves. At first, Nana (Deanna Dunagan, Stillwater ) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie, Eileen ) seem harmless enough. Their mom’s fear and criticisms of their grandparents don’t really fit the lovely older couple. That is until both start showing they’re mentally unstable and things take a dark turn.

Leading up to this release back in 2015, Shyamalan had fallen from Hollywood’s grace . He spent so many years being built as the next huge auteur in the industry. They weren’t completely wrong about Shyamalan in that sense, though. When you’re watching one of his films, you can easily identify it as one of his own because of the unique style he brings to his movies. The Visit allowed the filmmaker to prove he had more to offer and that he wasn’t going anywhere.

The concept of Shyamalan doing a found footage film through the eyes of two siblings who love filmmaking ran the risk of either being a mess, or a very interesting movie. Fortunately for everyone involved and the audience, this idea ends up working really well. This storytelling tool provides our young protagonists a lot of personality, since they’re quite literally guiding us through the movie and we get to spend the entire runtime with them.

Ed Oxenbould brings a lot of levity and energy, and you can tell he’s having the time of his life, particularly in the film’s climax. That said, Olivia DeJonge is the standout from the set of young actors. She delivers nuance to a role that should be very straightforward. There’s a scene during an interview with Oxenbould’s character where she portrays anxiety solely through her eyes, until we cut to her breaking down in private, and it’s riveting to witness.

In good old Shyamalan fashion, The Visit isn’t safe from discourse . For some viewers, portraying the grandparents as dangerous for simply having mental problems was of poor taste. There is an argument to be made regarding that issue, but ultimately this plot point is used in favor of a twist that switches up the dynamic between the old versus new generation, rather than to be hurtful towards older folks.

Those controversies aside, Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan are quite phenomenal here. In more ways than one they steal the film away from our young cast members and walk a fine line between giving endearing and terrifying performances. Sure, a lot of their darker and scary moments are structured around clichés Hollywood often overuses with older characters in the genre. For what it’s worth, though, Shyamalan makes it work with his camerawork, since it helps immerse you in the experience Becca and Tyler are going through.

As for the movie’s twist, what awaits you in The Visit is quite honestly predictable, but it is a lot of fun to see unravel. It is one of those cases where the situation our characters find themselves in isn’t necessarily surprising, but what makes it fun is seeing Becca and Tyler’s reactions to the plot twist.

The Visit was the perfect vehicle for M. Night Shyamalan to make people change their minds regarding his storytelling skills. It is a story we’re mostly familiar with, but it’s told through exciting lenses thanks to Shyamalan’s sensitivities. In addition, it was inspiring to see a big name like him fund projects with his own money, demonstrating he is willing to go the extra mile to do what he loves the most. It may not be the director’s most original work, but it did open the doors to films such as Split , Old , and his most recent Knock at the Cabin .

The Visit is now available to watch on digital and on demand .

• TAGS: found footage , genre: thriller , M. Night Shyamalan

Franklin (Apple TV+) Episode 4 Review 

• Clotilde Chinnici
• April 19, 2024

5 Age Appropriate Movies for 12 Year Olds

Bluey: 5 best episodes of chilli.

• April 18, 2024
• Films , Must Watch

Abigail Film Review: Blood-Soaked Thrill Ride

• Branyan Towe

The Hunger Games: Who is Tigris Snow & What Happened to Her

• April 17, 2024

K-dramas Tell Better Stories than Western Media

• Lauren Bergin

LATEST POSTS

"Forgiveness Heals Broken Hearts"

What You Need To Know:

(C, B, O, LL, VVV, N, MM) Light redemptive, moral worldview promoting family forgiveness in a scary atmosphere, but children’s grandparents appear to be mentally disturbed and suffering some kind of dementia though there’s a twist at the end that resolves this immoral plot problem, plus some suggestion of occult happenings but that turns out not to be the case; eight obscenities (including one “f” word), one or two GDs and five light profanities used during extremely scary moments, plus a scatological scene involving adult diaper; extreme violence with blood at the end involves stabbing a villain in self-defense at close range, and another villain’s head is smashed repeatedly in self-defense with a refrigerator door, plus strong scary violence includes a split-second shot of a woman’s body hanging from a noose in the distance, a man is caught with a shotgun in his mouth and then pretends he wasn’t doing anything when he’s caught, man believes innocent man is watching and following him so he knocks the man down and punches him several times, woman is seen throughout the movie running or crawling through her house at high speeds, children are terrified and in peril several times, two corpses are found hidden in a basement; no sex but brief innuendo in one line of a rap song; elderly woman is seen with one half of her bare buttocks exposed when she crawls out from under a house after playing a terrifying game of hide and seek with two children and elderly woman is later seen fully naked from behind while making terrible and strange noises in the middle of the night; and, deception and particularly scary shots of woman jumping at a camera with a maniacal look on her face.

More Detail:

THE VISIT is a scary thriller packed with unexpected comical moments about a teenage girl and her younger brother spending a week visiting the very strange grandparents they never knew before, who aren’t who they claim to be. THE VISIT is very well done and has a light redemptive, moral worldview about the importance of family and forgiveness, but there’s some extreme scary violence, brief foul language and other disturbing content.

The story follows Becca (Olivia DeJonge), a girl in her early teenage years who volunteers to go visit her mom’s parents for the first time, along with her younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), so that their mother (Kathryn Hahn) can enjoy a getaway cruise with her boyfriend and hopefully come back engaged. The children’s father had left their mom for another woman several years ago, causing deep emotional trauma for the children that the movie reveals in pieces throughout in a plot where they finally learn to deal with the issue in a healthy way.

Becca is shooting the weeklong visit with Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) as a homemade video documentary gift for her mom, and the movie is shown through the camera’s point of view. This approach of “found footage” has been overused in the past 15 years, but here Writer-Director M. Night Shyamalan finds countless inventive, visually stunning ways to employ the tactic to expert effect.

THE VISIT starts pleasantly enough, though the grandparents are extremely out-of-touch with modern society and technology. However, as the days – and especially nights – go by, Becca and Tyler realize that Nana and Pop Pop are prone to extremely strange behavior after 9:30 p.m. each night. Despite being warned not to leave their rooms after that time, they start investigating the strange noises around the house. The movie has an ingenious balance of scares and laughs throughout, as the children and the audience are left to wonder if the grandparents are just odd, or flat-out dangerous, and why they act in such a strange fashion.

THE VISIT is a great return to form for Shyamalan, who was being hailed as the new Hitchcock-meets-Spielberg after his early run of successes (THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE and SIGNS) before he tumbled into one of the worst career losing streaks in modern times. The new movie constantly keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, wondering if the children are in danger, then how much danger, then how the children will get out of that danger.

Besides some brief foul language, the big problem with the movie is in its climax, which occurs during a shocking twist, as is usual with the best of Shyamalan’s thrillers. During the climax, the children are in so much peril that they’re forced to find unpleasant, violent ways out of the danger. Consequently, the movie almost loses viewer sympathy before coming back strongly with a beautiful epilogue where the children’s mother comes to terms with the sad end she had to her relationship with her parents 15 years before, and this inspires the daughter to also forgive her father. This message of family and forgiveness adds a powerful and valuable asset to THE VISIT, despite its more edgy qualities. That said, extreme caution is still advised.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The Visit review – ill-judged shenanigans from M Night Shyamalan

There’s horror and comedy in this messy, shaky-cam nadir, but not the kind Shyamalan was aiming for

T here’s a terrible sense of dread lurking in M Night Shyamalan’s latest. Sadly, it has nothing to do with the boring shaky-cam story about two incandescently irritating teenagers spending some Grimm-lite time with their unhinged grandparents. Instead, it’s the horrible realisation that the film-maker who was lauded for The Sixth Sense , defended for The Village , and just about tolerated for The Happening , may actually have made a movie worse than Lady in the Water . Is it meant to be a horror film? Or a comedy? The publicity calls it “an original thriller” but it is neither of those things. Only “endurance test” adequately describes the ill-judged shenanigans that ensue, as our two young heroes film their estranged Nana and Pop-Pops scratching at the walls, puking on the floor, and mysteriously stockpiling soiled nappies in the woodshed. Can you spot the inevitable plot twist that lurks noisily in the corner? Can you listen to any more of little Ed Oxenbould’s cute comedy rapping without stabbing yourself in the ear? Can you get a refund? Bring back The Last Airbender !

• M Night Shyamalan
• The Observer
• Horror films

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

The Ending Of The Visit Explained

Contains spoilers for  The Visit

M. Night Shyamalan is notorious for using dramatic twists towards the endings of his films, some of which are pulled off perfectly and add an extra layer of depth to a sprawling story (hello, Split ). Some of the director's other offerings simply keep the audience on their toes rather than having any extra subtext or hidden meaning. Shyamalan's 2015 found-footage horror-comedy  The Visit , which he wrote and directed, definitely fits in the latter category, aiming for style over substance.

The Visit follows 15-year-old Becca Jamison (Olivia DeJonge) and her 13-year-old brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) when they spend the week with their mother's estranged parents, who live in another town. Loretta (played by WandaVision 's Kathryn Hahn ) never explained to her children why she separated herself away from her parents, but clearly hopes the weekend could help bring the family back together.

Although The Visit occasionally toys with themes of abandonment and fear of the unknown, it wasn't particularly well-received by critics on its initial release, as many struggled with its bizarre comedic tone in the found-footage style. So, after Tyler and his camera record a number of disturbing occurrences like Nana (Deanna Dunagan) projectile-vomiting in the middle of the night and discovering "Pop Pop"'s (Peter McRobbie) mountain of used diapers, it soon becomes clear that something isn't right with the grandparents.

Here's the ending of  The Visit  explained.

The Visit's twist plays on expectations

Because Shyamalan sets up the idea of the separation between Loretta and her parents very early on — and doesn't show their faces before Becca and Tyler meet them — the film automatically creates a false sense of security. Even more so since the found-footage style restricts the use of typical exposition methods like flashbacks or other scenes which would indicate that Nana and Pop Pop aren't who they say they are. Audiences have no reason to expect that they're actually two escapees from a local psychiatric facility.

The pieces all come together once Becca discovers her  real grandparents' corpses in the basement, along with some uniforms from the psychiatric hospital. It confirms "Nana" and "Pop-Pop" escaped from the institution and murdered the Jamisons because they were a similar age, making it easy to hide their whereabouts from the authorities. And they would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids.)

However, after a video call from Loretta reveals that the pair aren't her parents, the children are forced to keep up appearances — but the unhinged duo start to taunt the siblings. Tyler in particular is forced to face his fear of germs as "Pop Pop" wipes dirty diapers in his face. The germophobia is something Shyamalan threads through Tyler's character throughout The Visit,  and the encounter with "Pop Pop" is a basic attempt of showing he's gone through some kind of trial-by-fire to get over his fears.

But the Jamison kids don't take things lying down: They fight back in vicious fashion — a subversion of yet another expectation that young teens might would wait for adults or law enforcement officers to arrive before doing away with their tormentors.

Its real message is about reconciliation

By the time Becca stabs "Nana" to death and Tyler has repeatedly slammed "Pop-Pop"'s head with the refrigerator door, their mother and the police do arrive to pick up the pieces. In a last-ditch attempt at adding an emotional undertone, Shyamalan reveals Loretta left home after a huge argument with her parents. She hit her mother, and her father hit her in return. But Loretta explains that reconciliation was always on the table if she had stopped being so stubborn and just reached out. One could take a domino-effect perspective and even say that Loretta's stubbornness about not reconnecting and her sustained distance from her parents put them in exactly the vulnerable position they needed to be for "Nana" and "Pop-Pop" to murder them. 

Loretta's confession actually mirrors something "Pop-Pop" told Tyler (before his run-in with the refrigerator door): that he and "Nana" wanted to spend one week as a normal family before dying. They should've thought about that before murdering a pair of innocent grandparents, but here we are. 

So, is The Visit  trying to say that if we don't keep our families together, they'll be replaced by imposters and terrify our children? Well, probably not. The Visit tries to deliver a message about breaking away from old habits, working through your fears, and stop being so stubborn over arguments that don't have any consequences in the long-run. Whether it actually sticks the landing on all of those points is still up for debate.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl. After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

• Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
• Tyler Gillett
• Stephen Shields
• Melissa Barrera
• Dan Stevens
• Alisha Weir
• 20 User reviews
• 68 Critic reviews
• 66 Metascore

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Angus Cloud 's final role before his passing in July 2023. Although production wasn't completed until months after his death due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Cloud still managed to film all of his scenes before production was shut down.

Abigail : [from trailer] What can I say? I like playing with my food.

• Connections Features Pantry Panic (1941)

User reviews 20

• Apr 7, 2024

New and Upcoming Horror

• How long will Abigail be? Powered by Alexa
• April 19, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Official Instagram
• Dublin, Ireland (main location)
• Project X Entertainment
• Québec Production Services Tax Credit
• Radio Silence Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 49 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

‘The Wiz’ Review: In a New Broadway Revival, Dorothy and Friends Get Lost in a Hypercolor Whirligig

By Naveen Kumar

Naveen Kumar

• ‘The Outsiders’ Review: Broadway Musical Packs Heart and Soul but Little Punch 1 week ago
• ‘Spamalot’ Review: An Overdone Broadway Revival Opts for Excess Over Ingenuity 5 months ago
• ‘Here We Are’ Review: Sondheim’s Final Musical Is a Surreal and Starry Feast 6 months ago

A flight of imagination born of the trippy 1970s, “ The Wiz ” can shoulder a lot of interpretation. Sidney Lumet’s shadowy film, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, sets the Black spin on L. Frank Baum’s children’s story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” in a blighted, nearly bombed-out New York City. High schools and community theaters have surely long made do with their prop closets, as the musical by William F. Brown (book) and Charlie Smalls (music and lyrics) is a vibes-based vehicle for a familiar plot and foolproof hits like “Home” and “You Can’t Win.”

Popular on Variety

But that opportunity for connection swiftly gets swept away in the one-way twister to Oz, where a hypercolor surge of stimulation competes for audience attention. Excess is the defining trait of a fantastical realm otherwise lacking a unified look: storybook scenery (by “Black Panther” designer Hannah Beachler) contrasts with uncanny projections (by Daniel Brodie) that resemble Roku City crossed with Middle Earth; costumes (by Sheren Davis) burst with embellishments in yellow, orange, turquoise and pink. The already itinerant plot feels all the more disjointed when each scene appears to take place in a different CGI-augmented world. 

Part of the problem may be technical; it is often difficult to hear Smalls’ lyrics over the orchestra’s wall of sound except when the actors are belting over it. That includes Deborah Cox, whose instrument is unmistakable but overpowered in her first appearance as Glinda. Lewis, who has an appealing, delicate voice and a modest presence, comes to feel like a background player in her own adventure (perhaps ditching Toto from the script doesn’t help). Among the principals, Richardson is a standout with his liquid, riffy take on “What Would I Do if I Could Feel” and joint-swiveling way with JaQuel Knight’s invigorating choreography.

Hip-hop moves provide the production’s most electrifying moments, particularly in “The Emerald City” sequence, which also includes soulful steps in the spirit of the ‘70s source material. As the title character, figured here as a suave charmer, Wayne Brady also demonstrates an impressive, hip-popping dexterity.

Revisions to the book, by comedian Amber Ruffin , elaborate the backstories of Dorothy’s friends, though trying to make more sense of the head-scratching plot is probably futile. Sustained attempts at updated humor are intermittently successful; they ask for a degree of knowing side-eye from a production that is unwaveringly earnest and cheerful. Even the arrival of the Poppies, a transparent metaphor for vice, is oddly staged on a set of cubby shelves that appear lifted from a school classroom.

Without the dark, threatening corners, this Oz comes across more like a playground than a coming-of-age purgatory (the last wicked witch standing, Betts’ Evillene, registers as mildly menacing and is defeated with a small splash). Why does this Dorothy want to go home and what has she learned? If she was looking for somewhere to belong, she seems to have found just the place. But maybe her senses could use a break.

Marquis Theater; 1,612 seats; top non-premium $199.50. Opened April 17, 2024; reviewed April 13. Running time: 2 HOURS 30 MIN.

• Production: A presentation by Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Kandi Burruss & Todd Tucker, Elizabeth Armstrong, James L. Nederlander, HudsonMann, Cody Lassen / Matthew D'Arrigo, Independent Presenters Network, Amanda Dubois / The Seed Group, Dori Berinstein, The Jaquel Knight Foundation, Spencer Ross / Stephanie Cowan, Terry Schnuck / Gabrielle Palitz, Pippa Lambert / Alissa Norby, Gina Vernaci, Common, DECO Entertainment, MC Lyte, Patty Baker, Marlene & Gary Cohen, Concord Theatricals, Creative Partners Productions, The Fabulous Invalid, Fakston Productions, Brian & Nick Ginsberg, Gabrielle Glore, Grove Entertainment, Haffner-Wright Theatricals, House Woods Productions, Interscope & Immersive Records, John Gore Organization, Yasuhiro Kawana, Willette and Manny Klausner, MMC Productions, Lamar Richardson, Runyonland Productions, Erica Lynn Schwartz, The Shubert Organization (Robert E. Wankel: Chairman and CEO; Elliot Greene: Chief Operating Officer; Charles Flateman: Executive Vice President), Lu-Shawn Thompson, Lana Williams-Woods, The Araca Group, Blakeman-Robinson Entm't / Ricardo Marques, Robert Tichio / Score 3 Partners, Best Yet Entertainment / Branden Grimmett, Dkim Caldwell / Mickalene Thomas, DMQR Productions / Jason Turchin, Epic Theatricals / Jeffrey Grove, Joel Glassman / Westin Hicks, Jamrock Productions / Sonya Houston Productions, Sally Johnston / Ann Scott, Judith Manocherian / Theatre Nerd Productions, Alan Seales / Gonzalez-Leiba Jr. and Ambassador Theatre Group of a musical in two acts with book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, based on "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, with additional material by Amber Ruffin, featuring songs by Luther Vandross and Timothy Graphenreed. 
• Crew: Directed by Schele Williams; Choreographed by JaQuel Knight; Scenic Design by Hannah Beachler; Costume Design by Sharen Davis; Lighting Design by Ryan J. O'Gara; Sound Design by Jon Weston; Video Design by Daniel Brodie; Projection Design by Daniel Brodie; Hair and Wig Design by Charles LaPointe; Make-Up Design by Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche; Music orchestrated by Joseph Joubert; Music arranged by Joseph Joubert and Allen René Louis; Production Stage Manager: Ralph Stan Lee; Stage Manager: Heather Hogan.
• Cast: Wayne Brady, Nichelle Lewis, Melody A. Betts, Deborah Cox, Kyle Ramar Freeman, Phillip Johnson Richardson, Avery Wilson, Maya Bowles, Shayla Alayre Caldwell, Jay Copeland, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Judith Franklin, Collin Heyward, Amber Jackson, Olivia "Melo. J" Jackson, Christina Jones, Polanco Jones, Jr., Kolby Kindle, Kareem Marsh, Anthony Murphy, Cristina Raé, Avilon Trust Tate, Keenan D. Washington, Lauryn Adams, Michael Samarie George, Mariah Lyttle, Dustin Praylow, Matthew Sims Jr. and Timothy Wilson.

More From Our Brands

The metaverse flopped, so mark zuckerberg is pivoting to empty ai hype, a park-view aerie in one of n.y.c.’s buzziest towers lands on the market for $33 million, for vr prophets, 3dtv serves as a lebron-sized cautionary tale, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, did young sheldon just reveal the premise of next season’s georgie and mandy spinoff, verify it's you, please log in.

• Entertainment
• Celebrities
• Ticket Sales
• Promoted: What to Watch on Prime Video

Recommended

Johnny Oleksinski

‘the wiz’ broadway review: we’re off to see the cheap national tour.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

My apologies to Evilene, the wicked witch in “The Wiz,” who famously demands in song that her henchmen bring her “no bad news.”

Two hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Marquis Theatre, 210 W. 46th Street.

Because I must unfortunately report that the new revival of that musical, which opened Wednesday night at the Marquis Theatre, is not the dazzler that fans have waited so long for. Quite the contrary.

And that’s bad news, indeed.

Despite the cozy feeling of being reunited with beloved material 40 years after it was last on Broadway, director Schele Williams’ production is deflatingly flimsy and lackluster. Clumsily staged, it’s a Wiz-sper of what it should be.

Still, the Emerald City offers occasional shimmers of hope.

The all-black riff on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz,” which was made into a 1978 movie starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, is chockablock with infectious tunes, such as “Ease On Down The Road” and “Home,” and is sometimes rescued here by the voices of its talented cast.

Then — I’ll get you my pretty! — we spot the villain that’s lurking behind them: ugly CGI backdrops that look like Windows XP screensavers. Surely, the creative team can do better than that. 

If they only had more than practicality on the brain! This “Wiz” arrives in New York via a months-long national tour. It’s obviously been built to easily fit into a wide array of venues around the country. 

But Hannah Beachler’s sets are so cheap and unremarkable, and Daniel Brodie’s artificial-intelligence-style projections so prominent, that the overwhelming vibe is that we and the tour are actually still stuck in Kansas. We’re certainly not on Broadway.

Such cut corners are hard to stomach in a tale of a lush, magical land over a rainbow, especially when another take on “Oz” — “Wicked” — remains a visual wow, 20 years later and only four blocks away.

Yes, “The Wiz” should ease on down the road — but with boundless creativity and awe.

For the two of you who don’t know, it’s the old story of Dorothy (Nichelle Lewis), a Kansas farmgirl who’s whisked by a tornado to the Land of Oz, with a new — or, rather, 49-year-old — twist.

In the 1970s, composer Charlie Smalls brought Motown-style music — the sort you don’t just hear, but feel from head to toe — to Munchkinland.

En route to get help from the Wizard (Wayne Brady), Dorothy meets the Scarecrow (Avery Wilson), Tinman (Phillip Johnson Richardson) and Lion (Kyle Ramar Freeman), who all have unique struggles of their own. 

Their songs are fabulous. The quartet doesn’t follow the Yellow Brick Road, they “Ease On Down” it. The Tinman’s “If I Only Had A Heart” becomes “Slide Some Oil To Me.” And “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” gets an altogether differently poignant counterpart in “Home.”

Richardson, as that poor rusty bucket of bolts, does best with writer Amber Ruffin’s newly added, funny jokes. And his number is the most energizing of the three supportive Ozians, likable though the others are. 

They’re tormented by the powerful Evilene, sung with vigor by Melody A. Betts, who gets this “Wiz”’s closest thing to a showstopper in “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News.”

Brady, cameo-style, plays the Wizard with a Center Square personality. And Deborah Cox croons a lovely, maternal rendition of “Believe in Yourself” as Glinda.

Then, in a wildly rushed ending that gives zero closure, Lewis nicely sings “Home.”

It’s too bad that elsewhere in the musical, her Dorothy tends to let the wackier, flashier roles take over, whenever she’s not belting downstage center. This staging’s biggest flaw, actually, is forgetting that the show is more than just a bopping playlist — it’s the story of a scared girl who’s lost and discovering what matters most in her life.

But a lot has fallen to the wayside here. Not much is distinctive about this “Wiz” besides a memorable start of Act 2, during an extended dance called “Emerald City.”

It’s a modern nightclub sequence that’s a lively breath of fresh air. Finally, the show has been given a contemporary context beyond 3D images ripped from our scariest nightmares.

Before and after that, though, Jaquel Knight’s choreography is underwhelming and lacks theatricality and crispness. It doesn’t fill the stage, so much as clutter it.

For example, Ozian guards flank the four friends during “Ease On Down The Road,” marching and awkwardly moving their staffs not quite in unison. Their cumbersome decoration makes the spirited trip down the road bumpier than need be.

Like so much of this hit-and-miss production.

“The Wiz” ideally should have audiences proclaiming, “There’s no place like Broadway!” at the end.

Alas, back on W. 46th St. at 10:30 p.m., I headed to the train thinking, “There’s no place like home.”

Share this article:

Advertisement