Originally Published: 2002-08-04

Perhaps the most anticipated thriller of the year, Signs is a departure from M. Night Shyamalan's previous two frightners, The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, because of the lack of his signature 'surprise' ending. That said, it is also his scariest, and in some ways, best picture.
Graham (Mel Gibson) is a grieving widower who's given up his pastoral duties to raise his asthmatic son, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and small daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin) in a remote farm in Pennsylvania. Helping him with the chores is his restless brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former baseball hopeful. One day members of this tight-knit family discover strange crop circles in their cornfields, and slowly begin to sense the presence of strange beings. While uncovering this mystery, the family soon find itself isolated in their home with only their wit and bravery to help them through a living nightmare.
If this scribe is being vague it's because she doesn't want to spoil what ultimately is the most frightening movie of the year for everyone. Maintaining the sensibility that a shadow world exists beyond ours, Shyamalan has matured in his storytelling by ridding the script of the familiar otherworldly gimmicks he's previously used, and concentrating more on the humanistic and emotional consequences of fear. The setting rarely leaves Graham's property, and the cast is pretty much limited to our four leads. Yet, through clever editing and well-paced tension, there are enough surprising jolts to creep one out royally.
Not for the faint of heart.

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