Hello my dear cinephile friends, as you know I love these contests here I am again with another entry. Does anyone else find the idea of a bunch of aliens wanting to take over our planet terrifying? Probably not but I assure you that those who have seen this 2002 film, wonderfully directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix would feel fear because of all that disturbing aura that surrounds the creatures in the film.

Hola mis queridos amigos cinéfilos, como ya saben que amo estos concursos aquí estoy de nuevo con otra entrada. ¿A alguien más le parece aterrador la idea de un montón de aliens queriendo apoderarse de nuestro planeta? probablemente no pero les aseguro que los que han visto esta película del 2002, dirigida maravillosamente por M. Night Shyamalan y protagonizada por Mel Gibson y Joaquin Phoenix sí que sentirían miedo debido a toda esa aura inquietante que rodea a las criaturas del film.

The film follows the life of the former Reverend Graham who lives with his brother Merril and his sons Morgan and Bo on a somewhat isolated farm, his life is somewhat grey and empty since his wife died in a tragic car accident and he lost his faith, All his days are monotonous until suddenly some strange signs begin to appear in their cornfield, something that puts him on alert and that internal alarm begins to increase when they hear some strange noises on the roof of the house, and also perceive others that seemed to be a strange language through a baby radio. Gradually the family discovers that these noises and the signals in the fields have arisen all over the world and are related to each other, they are menacing alien creatures that have arrived on the planet with the intention of invading it.

Graham disregarded his brother's opinions and methods as bizarre or extreme, such as wearing tin foil on his head to prevent aliens from invading their minds, but later discovers he needs to take it a little more seriously, while Bo, Graham's youngest daughter has a habit of leaving glasses full of water around the house because she refuses to drink it as soon as she tastes it because "it tastes strange". This later saves their lives when one of those unwanted visitors gets inside the house and they all discover that the water is its "kryptonite" (so to speak).

Graham no tomaba en cuenta las opiniones y métodos de su hermano por considerarlos extraños o extremos, como usar papel de aluminio en la cabeza para evitar que los aliens invadan sus mentes, sin embargo más tarde descubre que debe tomarlo un poco más enserio, por otra parte Bo, la hija menor de Graham tiene la costumbre de dejar vasos llenos de agua por toda la casa debido a que desiste de beberla apenas la prueba porque "sabe raro" esto más adelante les salva la vida cuando uno de esos visitantes indeseables llega al interior de la casa y todos descubren que el agua es su "criptonita" (por decirlo de alguna manera)

I'm going to start my review with the only negative aspect that I find in this film and that ironically are the central axis of it, I'm referring to the aliens, which are shown as aggressive beasts, murderous and even as a kind of hunters lacking intelligence, at least compared to the way we have always imagined the beings from another planet, I say this specifically because of the scene where Graham arrives at the vet's house and discovers that he has one of them locked in a room as if it were any weak creature, I think this detracts from their power considerably, just as I find it implausible that a group of hydrophobic aliens would even entertain the idea of invading a planet that is 70% water.

But leaving that aspect aside I think the story is wonderful, Shyamalan (the director) as always shows us very realistic characters, with stories that anyone can identify with, also in this case I liked that he used the image of a widowed father who has to take care of his children in the company of his brother, that is to say that both will have to manage to raise a couple of children, Although there are many such characters nowadays, in the past these characters were mostly played by women, ignoring the reality that there are also widowed or single fathers who have the responsibility of raising a family without the help of a female companion.

After the death of his wife, Graham became terribly taciturn, even renouncing his faith, even though he was a pastor, this is not at all far from reality as some people tend to renounce their beliefs after a traumatic event, they choose not to believe in what they cannot see and which has no scientific basis, after all we came into the world just to grow, reproduce and die, probably under this thinking Graham's life had become so grey and flat, until all these events gave him an emotional jolt.

Another aspect that I think is very well worked is the suspense, once the audience manages to empathise with the characters it is impossible for them not to feel part of the plot and therefore affected by what happens. As I said before, I don't think the aliens act according to what we have always believed them to be (creatures endowed with great intelligence) but they are still disturbing, people are afraid of the unknown after all.

The director used several real-life elements to create more links between the viewer and the film, among them the very signs called "agrograms" (strange symbols found on crops) that for a time became very popular in some plantations around the world, and the paranormal videos that have always existed and that show ordinary people going about their daily activities that are suddenly interrupted by something unusual, or in this case terrifying, however the fact that the video in question was broadcast on a newsreel, under the uncertainty that had left the sightings of signs and "strange events" gave it greater realism, which in turn caused the scene that I will show you below to cause so much impact and become one of the public's favourites.

This scene inevitably prompts me to talk about another very important aspect of the film, the cinematography, the low lighting of the small room gives the scene an invaluable feeling of oppression, the little light coming from the television only illuminates the central character (Merril) and then we see shots interspersed between the television (first person shots) and Merril to show us his reaction, all this combined with the wonderful performance of Joaquin Phoenix is the perfect recipe for panic.

Esta escena inevitablemente me incita a hablar de otro aspecto importantísimo de la película, la fotografía, la poca iluminación de la pequeña habitación le confiere un sentimiento de opresión invaluable a la escena, la poca luz proveniente del televisor solo ilumina al personaje central (Merril) posteriormente vemos planos intercalados entre el televisor (planos en primera persona) y Merril para mostrarnos su reacción, todo esto aunado a la maravillosa actuación de Joaquín Phoenix es la receta perfecta para sentir pánico.

The same happens in the scene of the confrontation with the alien that holds Morgan (Graham's asthmatic son), the open windows showing the outside of the house could symbolise salvation and hope, while the inside is dark, oppressive and threatening, in another shot we see Graham's expression showing anguish but at the same time determination because he is not willing to lose any more of his family, and one more shows Merril next to a baseball bat, something that not only suggests what will happen next on screen, even before Graham says it, but in a way makes us think that it is a form of connection between Merril and his past as a successful baseball player.

And the light becomes more and more present as we see the alien succumb to Merril's attacks with the bat that are mostly aimed at the water glasses, seriously, I think it was easier and quicker to take the glasses and just dump the contents on the alien but it's still a scene that can be enjoyed.

Friends, as a conclusion, I can tell you that, despite the fact that aliens are not my favourite supernatural creatures, and that in fact I don't really like the personality they were given in this film, it is impossible not to recognise how disturbing they became throughout the film, firstly because we don't see them, we only hear them and then they are shown gradually: a hand (in the scene where Graham cuts off its fingers) the news scene and finally in the climax of the film where we see the same alien with amputated fingers confronting the protagonists. The strange sounds they produced and the simple fact of the mystery they generated was enough to make one's hair stand on end, at least in 2002.

Amigos, como conclusión, les puedo decir que, a pesar de que los aliens no son mis criaturas sobrenaturales favoritas, y que de hecho no me gusta mucho la personalidad que les infringieron en este film, es imposible no reconocer lo inquietantes que llegaron a ser durante toda la película, en primer lugar porque no los vemos, solo los escuchamos y luego ellos son mostrados paulatinamente: una mano (en la escena donde Graham le corta los dedos) la escena de las noticias y finalmente en el climax de la película donde vemos al mismo alien con los dedos amputados enfrentarse a los protagonistas. Los sonidos extraños que producían y el simple hecho del misterio que generaban era suficiente para poner los pelos de punta, al menos en el 2002.

Without further ado, I am very happy to have shared with you my opinion about this film. Here I am going to leave you a link to the contest rules in case you want to participate. Thank you very much for the opportunity.