In 2005, an episode of Adult Swim animated series “Robot Chicken” featured a segment parodying the films of M. Night Shyamalan, who had then just released critical failure “The Village” the previous year. Titled “The Twist,” the sketch depicts Shyamalan as a screeching jokester with a heavy Indian accent (that detail, and the mocking of his last name, dates the segment aggressively to the edgy mid-2000s comedy world) who reacts to everything that happens to him and his family by turning to the camera and exclaiming “What a twist!” For many people, that sketch sums up Shyamalan’s public persona: He’s a man who loves his twist endings.
Born in India and raised in Philadelphia, Shyamalan directed a handful of films before 1999’s “The Sixth Sense,” but it was that cultural phenomenon — and the now legendary twist ending that closes it — that introduced him into the popular consciousness. A macabre drama starring Bruce Willis as a child psychologist working with a young boy (played by Haley Joel Osment) who can communicate with the dead, it introduced all the elements we think of when we think of a Shyamalan film: A twist that changes how we view the story, a focus on tension and supernatural horror, dialogue that isn’t necessarily the most naturalistic in the world, and a prevailing earnestness and love for his characters that shines through the darkness he puts the characters through. Shyamalan is more than just the superficial elements of his films, of course, and he has more range than people who think of him as just the “twist” guy give him credit for.
But that reputation has stuck, and during a particularly brutal career downturn after his first few films (which also included “Unbreakable” and “Signs”), in which he released many objective stinkers — “Lady in the Water,” anyone? “The Happening?” — he was dismissed by many a film fan as a hack and a one-trick-pony. Luckily, Shyamalan has largely shed that baggage in the last few years through a run of low-budget, ultra-fun thrillers like “The Visit” or “Split,” films that rely on grabby premises (what if a serial killer had multiple personalities? What if a beach made you old ?) to lure in audiences. It’s a satisfying groove for Shyamalan, and even if this veer into more modest and playful stories seems ostensibly like a downgrade from the prestige auteur projects he was initially known for, in his best moments, he shows the technical skills and innate empathy that made “The Sixth Sense” such a sensation 25 years ago.
With Shyamalan’s latest “Trap” currently thrilling audiences in theaters now — and with the 25th-anniversary of “The Sixth Sense” upon us — we decided to access the director’s strange, singular career. Here’s all 16 of Shyamalan’s films ranked. As a spoiler alert, the list will go into the plot of every single movie Shyamalan has ever directed, including details about some of the more iconic twist endings of his career.
Also, an honorable mention to the Apple TV+ series “Servant,” which Shyamalan directed several episodes for across its four-season run..
