The Village is seen as M’s weakest effort. Despite its lackluster shocker, M. Night Shyamalan’s film’s finale is deeper than it appears.
M. The Village by M. Night Shyamalan is most known for its contentious twist, but the film and its finale also offer some intriguing deeper ideas. Though The Village is often regarded as one of Shyamalan’s less successful films, it is undeniably unforgettable. The Village, with a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Judy Greer, and even an unimaginably young Jesse Eisenberg, is undeniably one of Shyamalan’s most ambitious efforts, even if it didn’t entirely cover the land as intended.
The Town follows the residents of a tiny, remote Pennsylvania village as they live in terror of monsters known as “Those We Don’t Speak Of” in the nearby woods. The Village, one of M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller films, develops suspense as the village’s occupants struggle to go about their usual lives despite the realization that not everything is as it appears.
Isolated Village Lives in Fear of an Unknown Monster from the Surrounding Woods
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Ivy’s father discloses to her the truth about the village: the animals are a ploy established by the Elders to keep the group secluded from the taint of the larger society. Ivy tries to find her way to the road while navigating the woods without sight, only for The Village’s final surprise to reveal that the film took place in the current day (and not the late 19th century as it earlier stated).
Ivy is able to recover the required medicine and deliver it to Lucius, and the film concludes with her homecoming. Though the last part of The Village is primarily a tangle of relatively clunky disclosures, the film does contain some important underlying themes that make it a lot more compelling movie than its reputation suggests.
Why Did M. Night Shyamalan’s Ending Twist in The Village Fail?
One of M.’s favorite plot twists is The Village. Night Shyamalan’s worst film simply because it makes no sense. The disclosure that the monsters were created by the village Elders works because it is described well enough to be credible, but the final present-day surprise was too far. The year 1897 is carved on a new headstone in The Village’s opening scene, implying that M. The unexpected conclusion of M. Night Shyamalan’s film creates more questions than it answers.
To begin with, the fact that the village Elders have given the community a bogus date is a strange choice, especially in a community supposed to be completely secluded. Furthermore, the hazy explanation of the Walker family being billionaires who paid for the nature preserve to be designated as a no-fly zone is extremely convenient and unrealistic. It’s not a twist hinted at in any portion of The Village’s plot. Instead, it appears hastily thrown on to match the director’s career trajectory, making it one of M. Night Shyamalan at his worst.
The Cult Mentality of the Village and Religious Criticisms Explained
The plot of The Village, on the other hand, explores some fascinating ideas. First, there’s the cult mentality of the community: people believe what they’re instructed to think and are intimidated into living in seclusion. The village’s society appears to be a cult, with bizarre and arbitrary rules that its members are expected to follow, as well as regular “attacks” from the creatures to keep the villagers in line.
The peasants’ beliefs to placate the animals appear to be a critique of organized religion. The members of the community follow the village’s ways because it’s what they know, with their unproven fears keeping their behavior in check. There are obvious parallels between The Village’s story and both cults and modern religion, implying that the film provides some insightful social commentary.
The Creatures of the Village Represent the Negative Side of Parental Responsibility
Though The Village’s movie monsters are not supernatural entities, they do have a deeper significance. The animals not only keep the villagers afraid and secluded, but they also symbolize the evil of The Village’s parents. The Elders of the community consider the monsters as a means to an end: they dress up and scare their families in order to maintain the status quo and safeguard their families.
The monsters are viewed by the Elders as an extension of their obligations to their families and children. They symbolize the more difficult activities that must be completed in order to defend their loved ones from what they consider to be an evil civilization. The Elders saw the monsters as a metaphor for contemporary civilization itself, a lurking menace that may take the life of any of their loved ones at any time.
The Village Is About Parental Manipulation, Gaslighting, and Escape
M. Night Shyamalan’s shocks are contentious, but his films are generally loaded with symbolism and narrative analogies, and The Village is no exception. The potentially poisonous connection between children and their parents, and how it may influence a person, is one of the film’s major topics. The village Elders – the protagonists’ parents – lie and manipulate society for what they feel is the greater good, implying that they believe ignorance is best for their family.
The Village, on the other hand, is more of a coming-of-age story of escape and progress by addressing the notion of Ivy learning the truth. Despite having been brainwashed her entire life to dread the woods and the monsters, Ivy fearlessly navigates her way blindly (both literally and metaphorically) due to the falsehoods she has always believed.
Discovering the reality about her circumstances is a ridiculous and wonderful Shyamalan twist that, while undermining the film’s suspense, speaks to The Village’s larger issues. Ivy must confront the ways she has been exploited in order to actually insure her own happy future, and while The Village does not indicate whether she contributes to the charade, her path of understanding is central to the narrative.
What the Ending of The Village Really Means
The meaning of The Village’s finale is a little tough to understand because it closes on such an uncertain note. If Ivy chooses to stay in the village and continue to believe her parents’ falsehoods, her quest for self-discovery becomes much more selfish. If on the other side, she chooses to reveal the truth, it may be her largest mistake in The Village, as Ivy and all her loved ones would be forced to reintegrate into contemporary society.
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On the surface, The Village’s finale appears to be a joyful one. It is hinted that the medication supplied by Ivy saves Lucius and that the two will marry as planned. On a deeper level, the finale of The Village shows Ivy learning the truth about the village and confronting it in order to move on with her life, demonstrating that she has conquered the trials of her youth and is free from the restraints imposed by the village Elders. Although The Village’s finale is often regarded as one of Shyamalan’s worst, it nevertheless depicts a social issue with how parents treat their children, giving the picture an intriguing allegory for adolescent trauma.