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I’ve seen every M. Night Shaymalan movie released. When I first saw The Sixth Sense the ending didn’t surprise me due to an “unnamed source” who revealed the twist to me before I even stepped foot in the theater. For me, if the ending is revealed beforehand, especially if it’s a twist ending, the movie loses its appeal.

Rather than letting the story develop and gradually let the ending reveal itself, I’m left with knowing whats to come and that ruins the experience. My wife, on the other hand, isn’t effected if the movie’s ending is spoiled. I’m pretty sure that she laughs at me behind my back and wonders why I care so much. “It’s just the ending, there is more to the movie than just the ending. There’s a beginning, you know?”, she might say.

Truth be told, the ending is everything to me. I’m not a film student so rarely will I pull apart the production, piece by piece, nor do I analyze, with scrutiny, the continuity or glaring plot holes. If I want to be entertained I’ll watch a movie, if I need realism I’ll turn on the Discovery Channel.

As for Shaymalan’s newest creation, The Village, I’d rank it among my top all-time favorite films. To me it’s not only original but works on different levels, many of which aren’t apparent during the first viewing. The Village deserves repeat viewings for it’s moving performances, especially by that of Adrien Brody, the village fool and Bryce Dallas Howard who plays a blind woman named Ivy. Her performance is magnificent and yet haunting at best and warrants an Academy Award. If you see the movie, look at her eyes, you’ll see what I mean.

The Village is labeled a ‘Horror/Thriller’ by the MPAA which doesn’t make any sense considering it didn’t come across as a horror movie at all. Maybe I’ve seen one too many Nightmare on Elm Street or Night of the Living Dead movies, but The Village, to me, would be more of a dramatic suspense-filled movie. It has the trademark Shaymalan ending — mild compared to his previous movies — but overall it’s a thought-provoking and well-made period film that I’d highly recommend.