Gael García Bernal Joins Increasingly Great Cast Of New M. Night Shyamalan Movie We Know Absolutely Nothing About
While the new M. Night Shyamalan movie remains shrouded in frustrating secrecy, there's one thing we know for sure: it's going to have a great cast. Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Vicky Krieps, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Ken Leung are already part of the cast, and now, Gael García Bernal has signed on as well. And who are these actors playing? We have no idea. It's all very off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.
How's this for a cast: Gael García Bernal, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Aaron Pierre, Alex Wolff, Vicky Krieps, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Ken Leung. Impressive, right? That line-up will be on hand for whatever the hell the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie is. Shyamalan's films are often known for their secrecy, but I can't remember an upcoming movie of his being shrouded in this much secrecy. There's not even a vague plot synopsis to go off of.
Bernal's casting is the latest bit of news, and it comes to us via Deadline, but beyond that, there's next to nothing to say about the film. It's probably safe to assume this will be some sort of thriller. And it may or may not have potentially supernatural stuff baked into the premise. But seriously, folks, I've got next to nothing here for you, and it's frustrating.
Shyamalan burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense in 1999. It wasn't his first movie, but it was the movie that made everyone sit up and take note. With its dramatic approach to the classic ghost story and its big twist ending, it became something of a phenomenon and turned Shyamalan into a household name. He followed it up with the grim, fantastic Unbreakable, a film that took superheroes seriously well before Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. He followed that with the Spielbergian Signs, an alien invasion flick that was a lot of fun and scored some big bank. However, by the time Signs rolled around, some moviegoers seemed to be souring on the director.
That trend continued with The Village, one of the director's best movies that somehow inspired a plethora of vitriol. Things only got shakier for Shyamalan as he followed The Village with Lady in the Water, a movie that even his more ardent defenders – like me! – found questionable. Then came The Happening, a goofy film that was openly mocked, although I'll freely admit to enjoying it as a big-budget B-movie.
Shyamalan's decline continued with The Last Airbender and After Earth, two movies it's safe to say virtually no one enjoyed. It truly seemed like the filmmaker had landed himself in the infamous director's jail, but then, in 2015, Shyamalan teamed up with Blumhouse for The Visit. A "found footage" film about the terrifying old people, The Visit ended up being surprisingly fun. It scored some of Shyamalan's best reviews in a long time, and was also a big hit, hauling in $105.5 million on a $5 million budget. The filmmaker bounced back even more with Split, a tense thriller that ended up being a secret spin-off of Unbreakable.
It really seemed like Shyamalan was back on top. I was thrilled! And then came...Glass. The long-awaited sequel to Unbreakable, Glass was, in my humble opinion, an absolute disaster. It was such a disappointment that it made me question the years I spent defending some of Shyamalan's less-loved works. And yet...I remain a fan. And I'm hoping that Glass was just an unfortunate misstep, and whatever the director has cooked up this time will turn out to be a return to form. The still-untitled film is set to open July 23, 2021.