M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 film The Village is possibly his worst effort to date, and that's largely due to its laughably stupid ending twist. When The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan's film debut, came out in 1999, audiences were blown away, as were critics. The Sixth Sense remains one of the highest-grossing horror films ever, and for the most part, its reputation hasn't faded in the decades since. However, what it also did was sport a terrific twist ending, and one that didn't fall apart after audiences thought about it too much. The Sixth Sense became famous for its twist, and seemingly Shyamalan took that to mean that he had to put further shocking twists at the end of his future films.
Unfortunately, Shyamalan's attempts at twist endings have mostly been duds since then, with Signs probably standing out as the most famously bad. That film of course ended with a revelation that aliens vulnerable to water had traveled across the galaxy to invade a planet almost entirely composed of that substance. The fact that such a dumb ending followed what had actually been a well-done film up until then just hurt more.
While Signs might be the most famous example of a stupid Shyamalan twist ending, it's not the worst. That honor goes to 2004's The Village, which marked a turning point in the director's career, as even many of those who had stuck with him after Signs found themselves rolling their eyes so hard at the ending that they ended up in the back of their heads.
The Village's Ending Twist Is Laughably Stupid - Here's Why
As has become infamous by now, The Village ends with the reveal that the titular community isn't actually living in the 19th century, and it's actually modern day. Also, the monsters everyone is afraid of are just other villagers in costumes, trying to ensure that no one attempts to leave. Edward Walker, the founder of the community, formed it in the late 1970s with a group of people who had lost loved ones to crime. An extremely rich man, Edward places his village in the middle of a giant wildlife preserve, and pays the government to make it a no fly zone. We learn this because Edward sends his blind daughter Ivy out to retrieve medicine from park rangers, in order to save the life of her beloved Lucius.
There are so many implausible aspects of The Village's twist that it's hard to know where to begin looking at its stupidity. For one, are we to believe that this is the first time in decades that anyone has needed medicine from the outside world to survive? Or are we supposed to accept that everyone before this was simply allowed to die of treatable illnesses and injuries? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of starting the community to prevent further loss of life? Then there's the idea that Edward is so rich he's been able to pay the U.S. government off to not only allow the creation of this place, but also to protect it in an ongoing manner. Just how rich is this guy to warrant this treatment? Also, every president since Carter has somehow been okay with this arrangement? No matter what their political beliefs? It strains credibility to the breaking point.
Then there's the idea that no one has managed to enter the village, or get any kind of communication to them. If such a place existed like this in real life, it wouldn't stay secret for long, and lots of people would protest the idea of people living somewhere under false pretenses. There's no way park rangers would be able to prevent anyone from the outside world from ever reaching the village. Plus, what do they do if one of their own decides to brave the monsters and venture out. Kill them? The Village's entire scenario falls apart under the slightest bit of scrutiny. Adding insult to injury is that the twist is revealed by M. Night Shyamalan himself, in a cameo role that screams of ego and thinking his writing is more clever than it is. What an utter debacle.