Devil (2010)

After a series of critical failures such as Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender, writer/director M Night Shyamylan returns with his latest film, Devil. It is the first installment in a trilogy of films which are being called the “Night Chronicles.” This series of films will feature films and ideas coming from Shyamylan himself, but will be directed by someone else. Perhaps it is a good idea to reign in Shyamylan, by having a different person direct his screenplays. After all, I don’t think anyone could accuse Shyamylan of being uncreative, but some have definitely criticized his directorial style over the years. But if Devil is any indication, I don’t think Shyamylan will be bouncing back into good favor with critics anytime soon.

The concept behind Devil is simple. Five strangers are trapped in a stalled office building elevator. As rescuers race to open the elevator, they soon realize that one of the people trapped amongst them could be the Devil themselves. This is not the most original idea ever, but the concept of most of the film taking place in an elevator, could lead to some interesting possibilities. But the film doesn’t make use of this concept as well as it could have, and much of the film feels padded to meet the required running time. For instance, a good chunk of the film focuses on a detective character trying to figure out what is going on in the elevator as he tries to coordinate rescue efforts. He starts going through their backgrounds trying to figure out which one of them could be the murderer. However, by this time the audience pretty much knows that it is the devil that is killing people, and the detective’s efforts pretty much amount to red herring filler.

Devil’s problem lies in the fact that the film is simply not very scary or suspenseful. Left to the confines of the elevator, there is not much our characters can do except argue with each other (with some pretty unrealistic dialogue). Occasionally the lights go out, and some character will meet with a horrific fate at the hands of the devil. This happens so many times, that it becomes pretty banal by the time it happens to the third character. You will start to wonder why if this devil is so evil he just doesn’t break the elevator cable and return to Hades.

Which is another problem with Devil: the Devil doesn’t seem very devilish. Sure he murders several people throughout the film, and makes people’s toast fall jelly side down (I am not joking, this is used as evidence of the devil in the film), but he also seems to spare people who are willing to confess their sins to him. I’m not religious, but isn’t that more of God’s job? I’m sure Shyamylan was trying to incorporate a feel good redemptive aspect to the story similar to what he did in Signs, but while the ending of that movie came across as being genuinely touching, the ending of Devil just feels far too convenient and sloppy, as if Shyaymlan had to force things together in the last ten minutes to get the theme he wanted in the ending across.

Devil is the first of Shyamylan’s films that I just found boring. Sure, The Happening and Lady in the Water had huge flaws, but I can’t say I didn’t find them entertaining. Devil lacks the original concept of The Happening, the thrills and heart of Signs, or even the interesting twist of The Sixth Sense.

4/10