M. Night Shyamalan Has Come Full Circle

25 years after 'The Sixth Sense,' the alleged "next Spielberg" is still a brand name unto himself, in a Hollywood that now needs quirky, idiocentric voices more than ever.

I do not know why Warner Bros. Discovery did not screen Trap for critics before its domestic release this afternoon. It’s possible (likely?) that the picture is, among “hidden from press” horror flicks, closer in quality to One Missed Call than Crawl. M. Night Shyamalan has made his share of bad movies. The second act of his career was defined partially by a series of less-than-beloved critical whiffs that threatened to turn the once-celebrated household name into a punchline. Whether Trap sinks or swims, the guy who broke out 25 years ago with The Sixth Sense is now as vital a filmmaking voice as ever precisely because the industry is so lacking in butts-in-seats performers and filmmakers. He may no longer wield big budgets or pull tentpole-sized global box office grosses. But he’s still, on a curve, a “movie star” who can justify an investment in wholly original genre flicks or new-to-you adaptations. Once proclaimed as the next Steven Spielberg, now just being M. Night Shyamalan is enough.