Signs

M. Night Shyamalan‘s moody alien invasion thriller increases the tension a hundred fold by limiting the action to on and around a small Pennsylvania farm, where we experience the story’s terrifying events through the eyes of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a widowed preacher in need of a miracle to restore his lost faith upon the death of his wife, and his family: brother Merill (Joaquin Phoenix), son Morgan (Rory Culkin) and daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin, several years pre-”Little Miss Sunshine”). Back in 2002, a new Shyamalan movie was still something to look forward to, and while “Signs” may not be quite as groundbreaking or memorable as “The Sixth Sense” (1999) or “Unbreakable” (2000), it still packs a powerful punch as it plunges a family in crisis into one of the most bizarre and horrifying therapy sessions possible; whether you resist or “swing away” with the writer-director’s unapologetic (and perhaps far-fetched, as much as anything can be in a movie about little green men) Biblical symbolism and fable elements, you’ll never look at (or listen to) a baby monitor in quite the same way. Graham was originally written to be an older character, a role both Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood turned down; meanwhile, Phoenix replaced Mark Ruffalo, who had to pull out of the production due to a brain tumor that was later revealed to be benign. – IFC Staff