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M. Night Shyamalan broke through into the mainstream with his second-feature, the late ’90s horror phenomenon The Sixth Sense. The two similarly successful films that followed (Unbreakable, Signs) were building up Shyamalan as a director of possible Speilbergian talent, though in danger of having his third-act screenplay twists overwhelm his brand. That bore Rotten fruit with The Village and The Happening, which set off a bum streak with big-budget sci-fi and would-be blockbusters: The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth.
The Visit in 2015 would be a back-to-basics, comeback horror effort. Its box office and relative critical success set the stage for the Certified Fresh Split, which brought back the dark superhero world of Unbreakable. Shyamalan closed the trilogy with Glass.
And new from Shyamalan: Trap! While we wait to see how that fares with critics, let's rank all M. Night Shyamalan movies by Tomatometer.
14. The Last Airbender (2010)
Tomatometer: 5%
Audience Score: 30%
Synopsis: The four nations of Air, Water, Earth and Fire lived in harmony until the Fire Nation declared war. A century later, there is still no end in sight to the destruction, then, an Avatar named Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers that he has the power to control the four elements. He joins forces with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka, to restore balance and harmony to their world.
Critics Consensus: The Last Airbender squanders its popular source material with incomprehensible plotting, horrible acting, and detached joyless direction.
Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Jackson Rathbone
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
13. After Earth (2013)
Tomatometer: 12%
Audience Score: 36%
Synopsis: People were forced to leave Earth a millennium ago to establish a new home on Nova Prime. Now, Gen. Cypher Raige (Will Smith) heads Nova Prime's most-prominent family. Cypher's teenage son, Kitai (Jaden Smith), feels enormous pressure to follow in his father's legendary footsteps -- which strains their relationship. Cypher and Kitai set out on a trip to mend their bond, but when their craft crashes on Earth's hostile surface, each must trust the other greatly -- or perish.
Critics Consensus: After Earth is a dull, ploddingly paced exercise in sentimental sci-fi -- and the latest setback for director M. Night Shyamalan's once-promising career.
Starring: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
12. The Happening (2008)
Tomatometer: 18%
Audience Score: 24%
Synopsis: An apocalyptic threat to humanity arrives out of the clear blue sky with a series of violent, inexplicable deaths spreading across the country. The cause of the terrifying phenomenon remains unknown, prompting science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) to try to elude the invisible killer in Pennsylvania's farmland. Soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.
Critics Consensus: The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
11. Lady in the Water (2006)
Tomatometer: 25%
Audience Score: 49%
Synopsis: When Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) rescues an enigmatic young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from danger, little does he know that she is a character from a bedtime story, who is trying to return to her world. As he falls deeply in love with her, he begins to realize that he and fellow tenants are also characters in the fable, and they must work together to protect her from those who would prevent her from returning home.
Critics Consensus: A far-fetched story with little suspense and unconvincing scenarios, Lady In The Water feels contrived, pretentious and rather silly.
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
10. Glass (2019)
Tomatometer: 37%
Audience Score: 66%
Synopsis: David Dunn tries to stay one step ahead of the law while delivering vigilante justice on the streets of Philadelphia. His special talents soon put him on a collision course with the Beast -- the psychotic madman who has superhuman strength and 23 distinct personalities. Their epic showdown leads them to an encounter with the mysterious Elijah Price, the criminal mastermind who holds critical secrets for both men.
Critics Consensus: Glass displays a few glimmers of M. Night Shyamalan at his twisty world-building best, but ultimately disappoints as the conclusion to the writer-director's long-gestating trilogy.
Starring: Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
9. The Village (2004)
Tomatometer: 44%
Audience Score: 57%
Synopsis: Members (Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody) of a 19th-century community fear the strange creatures that inhabit the surrounding forest.
Critics Consensus: The Village is appropriately creepy, but Shyamalan's signature twist ending disappoints.
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
8. Wide Awake (1998)
Tomatometer: 45%
Audience Score: 66%
Synopsis: Struggling to adjust to his beloved grandfather's death, a boy (Joseph Cross) seeks understanding of God, life and injustice.
Starring: Joseph Cross, Timothy Reifsnyder, Dana Delany, Denis Leary
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
7. Old (2021)
Tomatometer: 50%
Audience Score: 53%
Synopsis: A tropical holiday turns into a horrific nightmare when a family visits a secluded beach that somehow causes them to age rapidly -- reducing their entire lives into a single day.
Critics Consensus: Old has no shortage of interesting ideas -- and writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's uneven execution will intrigue or annoy viewers, with little middle ground between.
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
6. Knock at the Cabin (2023)
Tomatometer: 67%
Audience Score: 63%
Synopsis: While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.
Critics Consensus: Although it's often less than scary and parts of the story don't bear scrutiny, Knock at the Cabin is a thought-provoking chiller and upper-tier Shyamalan.
Starring: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
5. The Visit (2015)
Tomatometer: 68%
Audience Score: 52%
Synopsis: Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) say goodbye to their mother as they board a train and head deep into Pennsylvania farm country to meet their maternal grandparents for the first time. Welcomed by Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), all seems well until the siblings start to notice increasingly strange behavior from the seemingly charming couple. Once the children discover a shocking secret, they begin to wonder if they'll ever make it home.
Critics Consensus: The Visit provides horror fans with a satisfying blend of thrills and laughs -- and also signals a welcome return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan.
Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
4. Unbreakable (2000)
Tomatometer: 70%
Audience Score: 77%
Synopsis: David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the sole survivor of a devastating train wreck. Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) is a mysterious stranger who offers a bizarre explanation as to why David escaped without a single scratch -- an explanation which threatens to change David's family and his life forever.
Critics Consensus: With a weaker ending, Unbreakable is not as a good as The Sixth Sense. However, it is a quietly suspenseful film that intrigues and engages, taking the audience through unpredictable twists and turns along the way.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Charlayne Woodard
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
3. Signs (2002)
Tomatometer: 75%
Audience Score: 67%
Synopsis: Everything that farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) assumed about the world is changed when he discovers a message - an intricate pattern of circles and lines - carved into his crops. As he investigates the unfolding mystery, what he finds will forever alter the lives of his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and children (Rory Culkin), (Abigail Breslin). A unique story that explores the mysterious real-life phenomena of crop signs and the effects they have on one man and his family.
Critics Consensus: With Signs, Shyamalan proves once again an expert at building suspense and giving audiences the chills.
Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Cherry Jones, Rory Culkin
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
2. Split (2016)
Tomatometer: 78%
Audience Score: 79%
Synopsis: Though Kevin (James McAvoy) has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all of the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him -- as well as everyone around him -- as the walls between his compartments shatter.
Critics Consensus: Split serves as a dramatic tour de force for James McAvoy in multiple roles -- and finds writer-director M. Night Shyamalan returning resoundingly to thrilling form.
Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
1. The Sixth Sense (1999)
Tomatometer: 86%
Audience Score: 90%
Synopsis: Young Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is haunted by a dark secret: he is visited by ghosts. Cole is frightened by visitations from those with unresolved problems who appear from the shadows. He is too afraid to tell anyone about his anguish, except child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis). As Dr. Crowe tries to uncover the truth about Cole's supernatural abilities, the consequences for client and therapist are a jolt that awakens them both to something unexplainable.
Critics Consensus: M. Night Shayamalan's The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
