Film Theory: The Aliens In Signs Aren't What They Seem...

The tale of Morgan’s birth is a little more complex, revealing Colleen’s ability to predict the future. She saw her son well before he was born by dreaming about him, greeting him like an old friend upon his arrival from her premonition.

It’s this tidbit of information that confirms her dying words weren’t simply random neurons firing, as Graham once put it, and that she really was witnessing the future and informing her husband on how to survive the home invasion that almost sees her family killed. It’s a message from God which she receives in her dying moments - just like during Morgan’s birth where blood loss served as another near-death experience.

These titular ‘Signs’ and guided actions are the very heart of the film, which is explored in Graham and his brother Merrill’s discussion on whether every life is a simple coincidence or if a higher power is instrumental in our fate. Graham’s loss of faith and the consequential reinvigoration from him, quite literally, facing his demons, is Shyamalan’s argument for the latter.

Everything in the film is important and comes full circle, no matter how negative - Morgan’s lifelong asthma saves him from poison, Colleen’s death allows Graham to save his family, Bo’s bad water habits result in a secret weapon, and Merrill’s failed baseball career means he’s there to beatdown the otherworldly entity: everything happens for a reason.