Summary

  • Signs, a film by M. Night Shyamalan, remains relevant with deeper themes and iconic lines like "Swing away, Merrill."
  • Character traits & Graham's crisis of faith are crucial to Signs' story, with a twist ending that ties all clues together.
  • The title of Signs has multiple meanings, referencing crop circles and individual family quirks that serve as signs of fate.

Despite being over two decades old, Signs is a film that remains relevant in pop culture, thanks to its deeper themes and memorable and creepy lines like, "There's a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?" and "Swing away, Merrill." From prolific director M. Night Shyamalan, 2002's Signs stars Mel Gibson as Graham Hess, a former priest grieving the loss of his wife and grappling with his faith in the aftermath of her death. The other members of his family also have key backstories that end up being crucial to the film's finale.

Merrill is a failed minor-league baseball player, Morgan is asthmatic, and Bo leaves half-drunk glasses of water all over the house. These traits, and Graham's crisis of faith, are all significant to the film's story, leaning into Signs' central themes. In the movie's signature M. Night Shyamalan twist, the aliens are defeated due to their deadly reaction to contact with water, and Graham's faith is ultimately restored by his family's survival of the ordeal. The ending comes together, arranging all the clues Shyamalan laid out for a thrilling and thoughtful ending.

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Why Did Signs' Aliens Come To Earth (Despite Water)?

The Aliens Did Not Know What Water Was

The alien gets burned with water in Signs

Widely thought to be a glaring plot hole is Signs' aliens invading a planet composed almost entirely of a substance that they are deathly allergic to. Of course, on the surface, the aliens' weakness certainly seems to be a convenient way of driving the technologically superior beings away from humanity. However, there's a clear and obvious explanation for the ill-advised extraterrestrial strategy: the aliens didn't know how harmful water would be to them.

Although the vast majority of sci-fi horror movies paint alien races as frighteningly advanced beings, there's no real indication of just how intelligent Signs' aliens are in comparison to humans. The most obvious explanation is that the aliens simply weren't aware of how severely they would react to Earth's water, as their own home planet would most likely be made of other elements. Their alien nature makes the science behind their weakness impossible to dissect, and the most obvious answer is that the aliens simply didn't understand the nature of Earth's environment.

Are Signs' Aliens Really Demons?

An Internet Theory Has Good Evidence For The Aliens Being Something Else

The alien from signs staring at the screen.

The other prominent theory about the aliens' aversion to water is somewhat less likely, though still compelling. One theory speculates that Graham's crisis of faith is what summons the creatures and that they're actually demons. Though most movie demons appear in demonic possession movies, the fact that Signs' main character is a former priest struggling through a crisis of faith could be the telltale sign that Signs is a devil movie, not an extraterrestrial one.

The theory posits that the water Bo leaves around the house becomes blessed (it technically belongs to a priest, after all) and that the aliens' contact with water is demons being hurt by holy water. The theory is something of a stretch because while faith plays a major part in Signs' story, every indication is that the film's aliens are extraterrestrial in origin, not supernatural. Though the theory most likely isn't true, the idea that Signs' antagonists might not be aliens at all is compelling enough to linger years after the movie.

The Hidden Meaning Of Signs' Title

Signs Has Multiple Meanings Beyond The Most Obvious

Crop circles in Signs.

Signs' title most obviously references the crop circles that begin the film's story, as they are literal signs of the coming invasion. However, there's an additional meaning to the title that's subtly connected to the film's ending. Signs' final scenes see the Hess family miraculously survive the alien invasion through a series of circumstantial events linked to the individual quirks of each member of the family.

The "signs" of the film's title also refer to these things: Merrill's use of the bat to drive the invaders away, Bo's water harming the aliens enough for the family to survive, and Morgan's asthma saving him from the alien toxin all combine to restore Graham's faith in a higher power, making them all "signs."

What Does Signs' "Swing Away, Merrill" Ending Line Mean?

"Swing Away, Merrill" Was A Message From The Grave

Merrill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix) wielding his baseball bat against the alien in Signs (2002)

Given the hidden meaning of Signs' title and some of the relevance of Colleen Hess' death lost in Signs' deleted scenes, it's easy to miss the significance of the repeated "Swing away, Merrill," line. The final words of Graham's wife six months before the alien invasion are initially believed to be nothing but the recollection of a random memory of Merrill playing baseball, but Graham uses them to spur his brother into action, saving his family in the process.

Whether or not Colleen saw the future as she died is ultimately irrelevant, as the importance of the words is assigned by Graham himself. He tells his brother, "Swing away, Merrill," to save Morgan, and the former minor league slugger is happy to oblige with the wooden bat mounted on the wall. In choosing to make Colleen's final words mean something, Graham proves that his faith has been restored — that he sees "signs" and patterns, not just random events.

Signs Is About Faith And Predetermination

Graham's Experiences In Signs Reignite His Hope

As with most of M. Night Shymalan's movies, Signs carries a much deeper message than a simple story of an alien invasion. Graham being a disillusioned priest is the most significant, as his faith (and his questioning of it) forms the basis of Signs' entire story. Having lost his faith when his wife was killed in a random accident, Graham struggles to find purpose in his life without it in the months that follow.

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Upon the alien invasion, Graham rediscovers his faith when all the things he perceived as random suddenly become significant. This is evidenced earlier in the movie by Graham's speech about how the world is split into two types of people, those who believe in coincidence and those who believe in miracles. Graham's belief that everything happens for a reason is restored, making faith and predetermination a central element of Signs' story.

The Real Meaning Of Signs' Ending

Signs Is About a Man Grappling With Hope In The Face Of Grief

Alien in the final scene of Signs

Signs is one of M. Night Shyamalan's most enduring movies, thanks in part to the questions it raises among its audience. The film's ending is clear, but not explicit in its narrative intentions: while Graham returns to work as a priest, it's not overtly explained why. However, context from earlier in the film — Graham's talk of miracles and the small character quirks of his family in particular — helps to make sense of the restoration of Graham's faith.

The unfortunate things that Graham saw as random (his wife's death, his son's asthma, his daughter leaving water around the house) suddenly become life-saving miracles in the film's climax. Seeing that these unconnected events can come together in a way that saves his family is enough for Graham to internally reconnect with his lost faith.

While Signs' twist might seem silly, its subtlety is what makes it work — it's not completely mind-melting, but it's just enough to give Graham the push he needs. Signs' ending highlights the theme of faith in a way that steers clear of a specific religion altogether. It shows that Graham is the sort of man who can make connections between seemingly random events and attribute them to something beyond himself.

Signs
PG-13
Mystery
Thriller
Drama
Sci-Fi
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Signs is a sci-fi horror film by director M. Night Shyamalan. It follows devout priest Graham Hess and his family as they find themselves in the middle of a mysterious event where crop circles appear in the middle of their farmland. Then, seeing the entire world begin to experience similar phenomena, the family starts to worry about their safety and the end of days as they ponder what may be coming.

Director
M. Night Shyamalan
Release Date
August 2, 2002
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix , Mel Gibson , Cherry Jones , Rory Culkin , Abigail Breslin
Runtime
106 minutes