The Sixth Sense-level whopper of M. Night Shyamalan’s period picture – about a 19th-century enclave haunted by creatures in the surrounding woods – is the best thing about the film, mainly because the rest of it is rather clunky (the assured filmmaking in
Signs is only occasionally on display). Perhaps Shyamalan was looking for the best way to get to that climactic surprise, in which case he might want to ask himself: What should come first, the plot or the plot twist?
