Signs
“Signs” begins with the same methodical construction and pacing as “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable,” but its story moves at probably the most frantic pace of any M. Night Shyamalan film. Once the crop circles are discovered in Graham Hess’s cornfield, it’s a fairly linear path to the end of the movie, when the former reverend truly understands nothing happens without a reason, even when it comes to the truly unexplainable, like an alien invasion. By that reasoning, anyone else find it interesting that Mel Gibson’s final mega hit before his fall into people starting to really see his antisemitic and abusive side is a film that leans into alien conspiracy theories?
A few years after “Signs” came out, I was diagnosed with asthma, which- I would come to realize- I had for several years as a result of scratches on my lungs during surgery when I was born. Because of that, I think the scene that hit hardest for me this watch- my first in a good, long while- is when the Hess family is holed up in their basement. An alien grabs a hold of Morgan (Rory Culkin), which triggers an asthma attack. His inhaler is upstairs, so Graham (Gibson) has to help his son try to regulate his breathing by trying to get him to breath at his father’s pace. My parents have never had to do that, but in 2007, they had to get me to the ER because my breathing was not normal, and I was unable to sleep. That saved my life. Throughout the film, Graham- who left ministry after his wife died- has insisted he not be called Father; prior to this scene, Morgan and Graham have had tension between them, and he’s had a hard time calming the fears of both Morgan and Bo (Abigail Breslin), his daughter. With Shyamalan, there’s nothing subtle about this- Graham is on a trajectory of being a father again, in every way this is meant. I know my relationship with my parents, and how they saw me, got better after what happened in 2007.
Shyamalan’s narrative begins with the discovery of the crop circles, and builds from there. Much like Spielberg would do with his adaptation of “War of the Worlds” three years later, one of “Signs’s” strengths is that it focuses on a personal experience while also hinting at what’s happening in the larger world. Even as we stay with the Hess family- which includes Graham’s brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former minor league baseball player who moved in with Graham and the kids after Graham’s wife died. Central to “Signs” is the idea that everything happens for a reason, and while the film might be Shyamalan’s most entertaining one, it’s also one of his least subtle in how he approaches his themes. Here, he’s exploring how loss can make someone lose faith, and how- when presented with a seemingly impossible scenario, our grasp on how life operates gets lost. For some people, that means falling down conspiratorial rabbit holes; for others, that means holding on to our sense of reality for as long as we can until, finally, no other way of thinking makes sense. One of the nice touches is seeing the differences between Graham and Merrill through this lens; Merrill is willing to go down the rabbit hole, whereas Graham- despite his lack of faith after losing his wife- has to hold on to his truth as long as he can, until physical evidence makes it impossible to do so.
“Signs” shows a lot of Gibson’s strengths as an actor in very subtle ways. If you think about his Martin Riggs, you get the sense watching that that he is capable of anything, at any moment. But watching him neuter that throughout the film presents the more empathetic side of Gibson he has rarely ever been given credit for. Take the scene around the dinner table. Every moment of Gibson’s performance- from his unwillingness to say grace to his anger towards Morgan to his eventual cathartic breakdown- rings true. Later, in the basement, the scene where he’s normalizing Morgan’s breathing is one of those vulnerable moments that made his work in “The Beaver” and “Ransom” so impactful. He adapts to Shyamalan’s more muted approach to directing actors very well, making the big moments where he’s able to be Mel Gibson, movie star, almost surprising when they arrive. Perhaps one of the most surprising things is how effectively he and Phoenix are able to make me believe that these two are brothers, despite the real-world age disparity between them. (I mean, Phoenix was a kid sneaking dirty movies into his room the same year Riggs was taking on racist South Africaners who killed his wife.) As Merrill, this role fits in well with Phoenix’s muted acting style, and he bounces off of Gibson well.
The craft in this film is peak Shyamalan. The precise editing, the sense of reality that almost becomes unnatural that’s achieved in the cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, the tension accomplished in simple motifs and themes from James Newton Howard’s score. There are moments where he plays the film like a mystery of “what’s happening,” much like the first part of “E.T.” before Elliot meets the alien. There are other times where we get traditionally-crafted suspense set pieces as when Graham investigates someone’s pantry, where they have an alien locked up. (That someone is Ray, the driver who killed Graham’s wife, and is played by Shyamalan in an extended cameo.) The home video from Mexico still startles to this day. The scene in the basement is a great use of sound and shadow to create tension. If Shyamalan stumbles a bit with the ending confrontation, it’s because his films are best when he’s building to emotional climaxes involving personal revelations rather than climaxes involving action. Everything after that is perfunctory, but also works better for the personal narrative of the film centering on Graham. It makes sense.
I guess I should spend some space discussing the “twist,” and how the aliens are defeated by a substance that covers the vast majority of Earth. Shouldn’t they know what they’re getting into? Logically, yes, but even after the aversion to water is introduced, how much are we thinking about that in the moment of the film? We’re following Graham as he’s continuing to try and make sense of what is happening. Yes, in retrospect it’s absurd, just like we start to realize the clues that Bruce Willis is dead in “The Sixth Sense,” but as the film unfolds, it’s a possible clue, not something that is known for sure. If it doesn’t work for you on rewatch, that’s one thing, but it’s not something at least I’m thinking about watching it again. I’m just along for the ride, and it’s as riveting an exercise in muted, subtle suspense as it was in 2002.
