There's a scene where Phoenix and Gibson are just quietly talking about fate for like 10 minutes in that dark while the kids sleep, and it's captivating.
The acting, dialog, and theme are all incredible.
Also: I'm a big believer that it's al not about aliens, but about demons that are manifestations of people's fear. And they're defeated by acts of faith and hope.
Everyone in town talking about their fears of what the aliens will be is correct, and on the radio, they never actually explain what killed them worldwide.
And you never actually see a spaceship or any kind of technology for that matter.
They called the little girl an angel more than once.
Also see where he locked one in a closet and it couldn't get out. Don't know if that's a demon thing or not, but he couldn't see it's reflection in the knife.
It turns out that Shyamalan, in an interview from 2006, has confirmed this.
"You know what I said about giving a Dracula movie a deceptive title? That's what I did with Signs. That was a story about a war between Heaven and Hell. The aliens were demons and the people's dead loved ones were angels."
I've always had a weird phobia of aliens despite being super interested in anything paranormal.
This is the only scene in a movie to make me physically uncomfortable. The nonchalant reveal just took it to another level that a traditional jump scare wouldn't have.
There was an old lady sitting in crying of me at the theatre, and when the cupboard scene jump scare happened I kicked the back of her reclining seat so hard I knocked her into the floor.
I noticed a few years later that all the theaters had changed the seats so that the back of the reclining seats are no longer directly exposed, so I'm guessing it wasn't a unique incident.
Honestly, signs was the first movie I ever experienced terror from all the way up until the end and now I literally do not give a single fuck about that movie.
Turns out I have a fear of aliens walking in the distance. Or, well, had.
Signs both clarified and cured me of it at the same time.
I had this whole theory built up about how the aliens were manifestations of the little girl's trauma and grief and everything was just happening within the town. All the stuff on the radio and TV was her using spooky kid mind powers unconsciously. That's why they were allergic to water: she has a weird thing about contaminated water glasses.
And then at the end he just hits the fucking alien with a baseball bat and the credits roll. What the actual hell.
While I completely agree, I'll do the apologist thing in case it helps anyone enjoy the film (or just sleep better).
spoilers for Signs (2002), of course
The aliens are actually demons or vampires
the water is holy water, either due to the ex-minister praying over his daughter, out of old habits, or due to some act of the angel of her dead mother
It's weak, but I guess it's more reasonable than "space faring aliens visit poison world for giggles".
I also like to allow for the aliens just being really stupidly desperate for some untold reason. But I'll admit it's a stretch to help me enjoy the film.
I remember when I saw this movie, I couldn't stop thinking how an "advanced" civilization that cannot cope with water decides to land in a planet that is 71% water. What were they thinking? A simple rain will solve the problem. Biggest loophole ever :-)
Maybe I had a different experience because I'm old lol I was like 21 when Signs came out and I saw it in the theatre and at the time I felt like actually showing the alien kinda ruined the tension that had been building up to that point.
I still enjoyed the movie, I just thought it would have been better to let people keep imagining what the aliens might look like