9 Reasons The Visit Is M Night Shyamalan's Comeback

7. The Performances Are Great

The fact that The Visit largely stars unknown actors makes it difficult to have many expectations about the film being well-acted, but surprisingly enough, Shyamalan has done a fine job picking his cast. The only actor audiences are likely to recognise is comedian Kathryn Hahn, who plays the kids' mother but only appears fitfully throughout the movie via Skype calls, while the rest of the performers will be new to most viewers. A pleasant surprise it is, then, that they all do a stellar job: child actors who are overly self-conscious or annoying can easily derail a movie, but here Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould make for entertaining protagonists while still being never less than believable as kids thrust into an impossible scenario. Still, the easy highlight is the grandparents, specifically Deanna Dunagan's portrayal as kooky grandma Doris. Dunagan may be unknown to most viewers, but she's a Tony Award winner on Broadway and puts her talents to good use here, walking on a razor's edge between creepy and hilarious. Without such solid work in front of the camera it'd be a lot easier to dismiss the movie, but here Shyamalan proves just how well he can work with actors when the material is right.