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The Village

Apostle
Posted on October 14, 2018

3 Films That Explain Apostle

Dawn Keetley

Obviously my title here is reductive. No three films can explain any other, especially when that other film is Apostle, the enormously rich new folk horror film by Gareth Evans. But this is a series we’re running (3 films that explain another)—and these three films do explain some things about Apostle, if not everything.

They are The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) –not surprising because so far virtually everyone has compared the film to Hardy’s classic folk horror film—The Village (M. Night Shyamalan, 2004 ), and mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017), a film I express my loathing for here, but which is nonetheless an important film.

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Posted on September 8, 2015

Post 9-11 Fears and The Village

Gwen

PG-13   |   M. Night Shyamalan   |   108 min   |   (USA)   |   2004

This review evolved serendipitously as M. Night Shyamalan has a new film coming out this week. The Visit premiers on September 11, 2015 and, in preparation, my cohorts and I decided to review some M. Night Shyamalan films to pump ourselves up. I decided to review my favorite film from the Philadelphia-based director and, upon doing so, I found new meaning in The Village. In anticipation of his new September 11th release, I fortuitously came across post 9-11 fears emanating throughout The Village.

The Village uses fear to harness its inhabitants. What the elders have in common is that they founded their society after a deep bond of common loss. To do so, they tangentially build upon history books to disseminate stories of a nebulous enemy who lurks beyond their borders. Clear boundaries are drawn throughout the film between one society and another.

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