the visit grandma crawling scene

The Visit Ending, Explained: What’s Wrong With the Grandparents?

In M. Night Shyamalan’s 2015 horror film, ‘The Visit,’ the audience accompanies a pair of young protagonists on a trip that leads to more menacing outcomes than one expects from a visit to Grandma’s house. After their distant grandparents, Nana and Pop Pop, reach out to teenage sibling duo Becca and Tyler, the pair takes the former up on their invitation for a week-long stay. However, upon arrival, armed with several cameras for Becca’s documentary, the two quickly begin noticing the strange happenings that seem to occur at the house after nightfall. Thus, the kids find themselves fending for themselves as each day unravels more erratic behavior by their aging grandparents, with the night bringing something more sinister.

The found footage film builds a compelling thriller narrative that gradually boosts its suspense until the final act delivers a startling and much-anticipated plot twist that fans have come to expect from the filmmaker. Nonetheless, the same conclusive twist may have left some of the viewers with a few questions. SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Visit Plot Synopsis

In her late teens, Loretta Jamison ran away with a substitute teacher from her high school, Corin, causing a rift between herself and her parents. As a result, years later, after Corin has abandoned his family, Loretta’s 15-year-old daughter, Becca, and 14-year-old Tyler have never met their grandparents. However, their distant relationship stands to change when the old couple reaches out to their grandkids, extending a home-visit invitation. Even though Loretta is against the idea, she doesn’t try to stop her children after they decide to visit her childhood home.

As such, while Loretta leaves for a cruise with her boyfriend, her kids take the train to visit their grandparents with promises of routine Skype calls. Becca, an aspiring filmmaker, decides to document the entire thing in hopes of learning the specifics about her mother and grandparents’ falling out. Consequently, Bella and Fredrick Spencer arrive at the train station on Monday morning to pick up their grandkids with enthusiastic smiles. Their first day together goes smoothly, and as it comes to an end, the kids’ grandpa, Pop Pop, instructs them about a 9:30 bedtime rule.

Although the kids don’t think of it much at first, Becca learns the merit of following through with the rule after she ventures out for a midnight snack and witnesses her Nana, sick and frantically throwing up. Even more frightening, the morning after, the woman abruptly and manically chases the kids under the house’s crawlspace during an impromptu game of hide-n-seek. Throughout the day, the kids’ concern grows further after noticing a few disturbing things about Pop Pop, such as his lack of bowel control and tendency to attack strangers in a fit of paranoia.

The following night, Tyler’s worries grow after he spots Nana wildly scratching at the walls outside the kids’ guest room in a stark state of undress. However, after Becca asks Pop Pop about the older woman’s condition, she receives a plausible answer about Nana’s sundowning issue, establishing her concerning after-hours behavior is similar to sleepwalking.

The explanation satisfies Becca, who attempts to return to her mission to learn about her mother’s relationship with Nana and Pop Pop. Still, she doesn’t make much progress since the topic seems to trigger a violent episode in her grandmother. Meanwhile, Tyler remains weary of his grandparents’ actions and insists they should spy on them by setting up cameras in the living room. Although Becca is initially against the idea, she agrees after walking in on Pop Pop with a rifle’s barrel in his mouth.

Even so, the plan backfires when Nana spots the camera on her nightly manic episode and attempts to break into the kids’ room armed with a knife. Once Becca realizes their lives may be in danger after reviewing the night’s footage, she decides to ask Loretta to pick them up on account of the dangerous circumstances. However, the kids are in for a big surprise when they show the elderly couple to their mother from a window, only to learn that the people they have spent the past few days with are not their grandparents.

The Visit Ending: Who Are The Old Couple? What Did They Do To The Real Grandparents?

As a slow burn of mourning suspense and horror, the film reveals Nana and Pop Pop’s concerning attributes in slow bouts. At first, the behavior that the couple exhibits can be easily explained as a condition of their old age, with sundowning, memory issues, and paranoia forming the baseline. Yet, as the film progresses, the old couple becomes more and more dangerous— first toward themselves and then the kids.

Due to Loretta’s dramatic exit from her parents’ house, the woman seldom speaks to the couple, even as she regularly calls the kids. Furthermore, a seemingly innocent accident damages Becca’s webcam, robbing the mother of any visual cues. Therefore, it isn’t until Thursday morning, when Becca and Tyler have begun fearing for their lives, that Loretta glimpses at the old couple. Consequently, she realizes all this time, her kids have been living with a pair of strangers who are pretending to be their grandparents.

The revelation immediately sets Loretta into action, who tries to contact the cops and reach her kids as soon as possible. In the meantime, she advises her kids to seek help from the neighbors to put distance between themselves and the imposters. Nevertheless, the old couple prevents Becca and Tyler from leaving the house with the idea of a family game night. Thus, with tension in the air, the kids find themselves enduring a game of Yahtzee until the old woman’s incoming mental episode gives Becca an excuse to slip away.

Using the opportunity to explore the house and learn about the imposters, Becca ventures into the forbidden basement, where she suspects her actual grandparents to be. Inside, she finds all the answers to her questions as Becca’s hunch turns out to be true in the worst way possible.

As it would turn out, the imposter old couple is a pair of psychiatric hospital patients, where the actual Bella and Patrick Spencer volunteered. The psychotic couple believed they were from an alien planet, Sinmorfitellia. As such, the pair drowned their own kids inside a well that they believed to hold a passage to the alien planet. For the same reason, they were being under monitoring in the psychic hospital.

Nonetheless, the couple escaped their bounds after the Spencers revealed their plans for a family reunion with their grandkids. Envious of the other couple, the imposters, Claire and Mitchell, killed the former pair and overtook their identities to spend the week with Becca and Tyler. Consequently, the duo managed to evade outsiders anytime they came looking for them at the house and ultimately killed their neighbor, Stacey, when she realized their reality.

Soon after Becca learns this truth, Mitchell locks her up in a room with a psychotic Claire, undergoing her violent episode. Despite their earlier attempts at domestic bliss, the couple’s instincts compel them to harm the children. Nevertheless, before the older woman can choke Becca to death, the girl manages to get her hands on a mirror shard and stabs her attacker to death. Afterward, she rushes to her younger brother’s aid, whom Mitchel is psychologically torturing.

However, with his sister’s element of surprise, Tyler manages to overpower Mitchell, unleashing raw rage and bashing the older man to death by slamming the refrigerator door at his head. Ultimately, after killing the old couple pretending to be their grandparents, Becca and Tyler make it out of the experience alive and reunite with their mother.

Why Did Loretta Stop Talking To Her Parents?

By the film’s end, Loretta’s sore relationship with her parents remains the one last mystery. Arguably, the woman’s reluctance to speak to her parents played a part in the kids’ entrapment since the latter had no point of reference to distinguish their relatives from strangers. Furthermore, part of Becca’s curiosity about her grandparents stemmed from Loretta’s refusal to speak about them to her own kids.

As such, after Becca and Tyler have returned to the safety of their home, Loretta sits down for one last interview for her daughter’s documentary, where she speaks about her past with her parents. When 19-year-old Loretta tried to run away from home with Corin, her high school teacher, the former’s parents wanted to stop her. Nevertheless, the same only resulted in an altercation where Loretta hit her mother, followed by the former’s father hitting his daughter.

Therefore, Loretta’s last day on the farm gave birth to several familial complications. Although Loretta’s parents tried to apologize and solve things afterward, the woman continued to avoid them years and years into the future. For the same reason, Loretta imparts a lesson to her daughter to never hold grudges so hard that they end up ruining things. In turn, Becca, who despises her father for abandoning them, decides to learn from her mother’s mistakes. Unlike Loretta, who refused to speak to her parents, leading to regret after their death, Becca chooses to include home videos of her father in the documentary to close the narrative as a sign of her forgiveness.

Read More: Is The Visit Based on a True Story?

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Movies | ‘the visit’ review: to grandmother’s haunted house we go.

The early 2000s seem like several lifetimes ago, especially for the director who soared early in his career with “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and, yes, “Signs,” and then spiraled into creative free fall through the likes of “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth.” But with the clever, cheeky and only slightly scary horror film “The Visit,” Shyamalan is partying like it’s 2000 all over again.

Fifteen-year-old budding documentary filmmaker Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her 13-year-old wanna-be rapper brother, Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), are going to visit their grandparents, whom they’ve never seen. Mom (Kathryn Hahn) cut ties with her parents years ago when she ran off with her children’s father — who has since left her for another woman.

Grandfather, aka Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), and Nana (Deanna Dunagan) have tracked their daughter down online and invited the children to stay for a week at their isolated farm in the Pennsylvania countryside where there’s no cellphone service. That means mom can take a break from parenting to spend some quality time with her boyfriend by going on a cruise. And, if mom and the kids need to talk, there’s always Skype.

Sounds like a good plan? Well, what part of “isolated farm” don’t you understand?

Of course, Pop Pop and Nana turn out to be as creepy as midnight in a graveyard. But it’s good that Becca has brought a couple of cameras and her laptop along to document all the strange things that go bump in the long night.

Since much of the film is from the viewpoint of her cameras, “The Visit” fits into the tiresome found-footage trend, but Shyamalan, who also wrote the script, unexpectedly injects it all with a wily sense of humor that works.

Much of the success of “The Visit” goes to the cast, specifically to the two young Australians DeJonge and especially Oxenbould (“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”). They display a very real sense of sibling chemistry and an almost improvisatory sense of comic timing that make their interactions a joy to watch even if what’s going on around them is typical haunted-house stuff. Seeing Tyler channel his inner Drake is worth the price of admission alone (be sure to stay for the beginning of the end-credits).

Likewise, McRobbie (“Boardwalk Empire”) and Dunagan (“Just Like a Woman”) play the grandparents with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek tone without spilling over into overkill. It’s a tightrope everyone manages to walk with skill.

Shyamalan is known for his patented twist endings but, thankfully, he seems less concerned about it this time, instead focusing on telling a good, fun story in place of just conjuring a good gimmick.

Granted, “The Visit” is lightweight. It doesn’t have the emotional resonance of “The Sixth Sense,” but it’s a welcome return to form for a director who seemed doomed to a future of resting on laurels and remembering better days.

With this and “Wayward Pines,” the well-received miniseries he recently produced, Shyamalan definitely has his groove back. Except, this time, everyone can tweet about it.

“The Visit” — Three stars

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief strong language)

Running time: 1:34

Opens: Friday

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The Visit Explained (Plot And Ending)

The Visit is a 2015  horror   thriller  directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It follows two siblings who visit their estranged grandparents only to discover something is very wrong with them. As the children try to uncover the truth, they are increasingly terrorized by their grandparents’ bizarre behaviour. Here’s the plot and ending of The Visit explained; spoilers ahead.

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To find where to stream any movie or series based on your country, use This Is Barry’s Where To Watch .

Oh, and if this article doesn’t answer all of your questions, drop me a comment or an FB chat message, and I’ll get you the answer .  You can find other film explanations using the search option on top of the site.

Here are links to the key aspects of the movie:

• – The Story
• – Plot Explained
• – Ending Explained
• – The Sense Of Dread
• – Separation, Remorse, and Personal Fears
• – Frequently Asked Questions Answered
• – Wrap Up

What is the story of The Visit?

The Visit is about two kids visiting their grandparents for the first time. They are also going there to hope and rebuild a bridge between their mom and grandparents and help their mom heal after a painful divorce. The movie is in documentary form.

The Visit is one of the most unnerving and realistic horror stories. A good thing about classic horror movies is that, after the movie ends, you can switch it off and go to bed,  knowing that you’re safe . Vampires, ghosts, and demonic powers don’t exist, and even if you are prone to these kinds of esoteric beliefs, there are safeguards. If your home is not built in an Indian burial ground and you haven’t bought any creepy-looking dolls from your local antiquary, you’re perfectly safe.

However, what about the idea of two kids spending five days with two escaped psychiatric ward patients in a remote farmhouse? Now, this is a thought that will send shivers down your spine. It’s a story that sounds not just realistic but real. It’s  something that might have happened in the past  or might happen in the future.

This is  what  The Visit  is all about . This idea, coupled with documentary-form storytelling, is why the movie is so unnerving to watch.

The Visit: Plot Explained

Loretta’s past.

As a young girl, Loretta Jamison fell in love with her high school teacher and decided to skip her hometown with him. Before leaving, she had a heated altercation with her parents and hasn’t seen them since. At the movie’s start, she is a single mom of 15-year-old Becca and 14-year-old Tyler, and she  hasn’t spoken to her parents in 15 years .

What really happened on the day Loretta left?

Loretta’s mom tries to stop her from leaving the house, and Loretta hits her mom, and her dad hits her. Soon after, her parents try to reach out to Loretta, but she refuses to take their calls, and years go by.

Meet The Grandparents

Years later, Loretta’s parents reach out to  meet their grandchildren . The grandparents are, seemingly, wholly reformed and now even help at the local psychiatric hospital. Although initially not too fond of the idea, Loretta is persuaded by the insistence of her children. While she had no intention of visiting the parents, she permitted her children to pay their grandparents a five-day visit.

At The Grandparents’

Their first meeting with Nana and Pop Pop starts on the right foot. They start getting to know each other, and other than a simple generational gap, nothing seems too strange. The only thing that seems off is that they are warned  not to leave the room after 9:30 in the evening .

The kids break this rule, and on the first night, they notice  Nana acting erratically , projectile vomiting, scratching wallpaper with her bare hands, and running around the house on all fours. Grandpa appears paranoid and hides his adult diapers in the garden shed, and the situation escalates each day.

The Visit Ending Explained: What happens in the end?

The ending of Visit has the kids finally showing the elderly couple to Loretta. She, completely horrified, states that  those are not her parents . The pair posing as Pop Pop and Nana are escaped psychiatric institution patients who murdered their grandparents and took their places.

The kids survive, kill their captors, and are found alive and well by their mom and the police. Becca kills Nana with a shard from the mirror, thus symbolically overcoming her fear of her reflection. Tyler kills Pop Pop by repeatedly slamming him in the head with a refrigerator door after overcoming his germaphobia and anxiety about freezing.

The Sense Of Dread

The elements of horror in this movie are just  perfectly executed . First of all, the film is shot as a documentary. Becca is an aspiring filmmaker who records the entire trip with her camera. From time to time, we see an interview of all the characters, which just serves as the perfect vessel for characterization.

No Ghouls or Cults

Another thing that evokes dread is  realism . There are no supernatural beings or demonic forces. It’s just two kids alone in a remote farmstead with two creepy, deranged people. Even in the end, when Loretta finds out what’s happening, it takes her hours to get there with the police. The scariest part is that it’s not that hard to imagine something along those lines really happening.

The  house itself is dread-inducing . The place is old and rustic. Like in The Black Phone soundproofing a room  could have prevented kids from hearing Nana rummaging around the house without a clear idea of what was happening, but this was not the case, as the old couple weren’t that capable.

The  characters  themselves  are perfectly played . Something is unnerving about Pop Pop and Nana from the very first scene. It’s the Uncanny Valley scenario where you feel that something’s off and shakes you to the core, but you have no idea what it is.

Separation, Remorse, and Personal Fears

What this movie does the best is explore the  ugly side of separation, old grudges, and remorse . The main reason why kids are insistent on visiting their grandparents is out of their desire to help their mom.

They see she’s remorseful for never  working things out with her parents . In light of her failed marriage and the affair that caused it to end, she might live with the doubt that her parents were right all along. This makes her decision and altercation with her parents even worse. Reconciling when you know you were wrong is harder than forgiving the person who wronged you.

The Kids’ Perspective

There are personal fears and  traumas of the kids . Tyler, in his childish naivete, is convinced that his father left because he was disappointed in him as a son. Tyler tells Becca that he froze during one game he played, which disappointed his dad so much that he had to leave. While this sounds ridiculous to any adult (and even Becca), it’s a matter of fact to Tyler. As a result of this trauma, Tyler also developed germaphobia. In Becca’s own words, this gives him a greater sense of control.

On the other hand,  Becca refuses to look at herself in the mirror  or stand in front of the camera if she can help it. Both kids  had to overcome their fears to survive , which is a solid and clear metaphor for how these things sometimes turn out in real life.

Frequently Asked Questions Answered

The visit: what’s wrong with the grandparents who are the grandparents.

The people who hosted Becca and Tyler were runaway psychiatric hospital patients who murdered the real grandparents and took their place. Nana’s impostor (Claire) was actually responsible for murdering her children by drowning them in a well. Pop Pop’s impostor (Mitchell) wanted to give Claire a second chance at having kids / being a grandparent.

How did the imposter grandparents know about the kids’ visit?

It appears Claire and Mitchell hear the real Nana and Pop Pop brag about their grandkids’ visit. They also learned that neither the grandparents nor the kids had seen each other. The real grandparents appear to have been consulting in the same hospital Claire and Mitchell were being treated. The two crazies take this opportunity to break out, kill the real grandparents and go to the station to pick up the children.

The Visit: What is Sinmorfitellia?

Claire and Mitchell believe that Sinmorfitellia is an alien planet, and the creatures from there lurk on Earth. They spit into the waters of wells and ponds all day, which can put people into a deep sleep. They take  sleeping with the fishes  quite literally. Long ago, Claire drowned her children believing they would go to Sinmorfitellia.

The Visit: What happened to the real grandparents?

Claire and Mitchel killed Nana and Pop Pop and put them in the basement. This information went unnoticed because Becca’s laptop’s camera was damaged by Nana, so Loretta could not confirm the imposters. Claire and Mitchel were not present every time someone came to visit, so no one suspected foul play except Stacey, who received help from the real grandparents. As a result, she is killed.

What did Claire and Mitchel intend to do?

They plan to go to Sinmorfitellia with Becca and Tyler. They all plan to die on that last night and enter the well, which they believe is their path to the alien planet where they can be happy together. This is perhaps why the grandparents hang Stacey outside the house because they don’t care about being caught.

The Visit: What’s wrong with Nana?

We don’t know what caused Nana’s mental illness, but she was crazy enough to kill her two children by putting them in suitcases and drowning them in a pond. It appears she suffers from schizophrenia as she has delusions.

The Visit: Wrap Up

From the standpoint of horror, The Visit has it all. An unnerving realistic scenario, real-life trauma, and an atmosphere of fear. Combine this with  some of the best acting work in the genre  and a documentary-style movie, and you’ve got yourself a real masterpiece.

On the downside, the movie leaves you with a lot of open questions like:

• Considering the kids have never seen the grandparents and are going alone, Loretta didn’t ensure her kids knew what her parents looked like?
• How are Claire and Mitchell out and about so close to the hospital without being caught?
• Considering they are mentally ill, how did Claire and Mitchell plot such a thorough plan? (e.g. strategically damaging the camera of the laptop)
• I understand  Suspension Of Disbelief  in horror films, but neither kids drop their cameras despite the terror they go through only so we, the audience, can get the entire narrative?

What were your thoughts on the plot and ending of the movie The Visit? Drop your comments below!

Stacey is a talented freelance writer passionate about all things pop culture. She has a keen eye for detail and a natural talent for storytelling. She’s a super-fan of Game of Thrones, Cats, and Indie Rock Music and can often be found engrossed in complex films and books. Connect with her on her social media handles to learn more about her work and interests.

One Of The Scariest Scenes In The Visit Goes Bump In The Night

(Welcome to Scariest Scene Ever , a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror with your tour guides, horror experts Matt Donato and Ariel Fisher. In this edition, Matt turns a camera on some innocent-looking grandparents in "The Visit" and Ariel can't stand the silence.)

The found-footage movement was birthed by filmmakers with tight budgets and minimal resources who defied the odds to popularize home video horrors. Movies like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" showed that $15,000 and a handheld camera could gross $190 million . Everyone wanted their cut of the insanely profitable subgenre (when done right). Little by little, found footage was everywhere, eventually being adopted by mainstream filmmakers and studios who wanted to profit off of the trend. Kaijus, exorcisms, and zombies got in on the action, and then it was M. Night Shyamalan's turn. 

"The Visit" proves that found footage efficiency boils down to ideas, execution, and storytelling. Shyamalan's pedigree as a blockbuster filmmaker does nothing to rob the first-person horror show that is grandchildren fighting off their septuagenarian babysitters. 

Some complain that big-budget found footage films are too cleanly produced and lack that guerilla filmmaking grime, but that's not necessarily a damning factor. "The Visit" shouldn't be docked just because it's cleanly shot. As long as the scares are well-produced, it's still successful found footage. 

Shyamalan finds a way to make senior citizens terrifying while creating a found-footage gem that smells like a scented candle named "Home Sweet Hell."

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and 13-year-old Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) go. Oddly enough, they've never met their Nana (Deanna Dunagan) or Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie). Their mother, Loretta (Kathryn Hahn), severed ties with her parents 15 years prior because they disapproved of her marrying her high school teacher. Loretta's headed on a cruise with her new boyfriend, so it's a perfect excuse for the children to stay with family and spend some quality catch-up time.

Becca and Tyler have to endure five days with Nana and Pop Pop. For the duration, they plan to videotape what will become a documentary about finally meeting their relatives. Something this momentous should be recorded for prosperity, which becomes Shyamalan's explanation for why his adolescent main characters keep their camera rolling on Nana and Pop Pop.

As far as these types of justifications go, "The Visit" soundly reasons its adoption of the found footage format.

The story so far

Nana and Pop Pop are a bit off-center from the start, laying out rules the children must obey. Becca and Tyler must never venture into the basement due to hazardous mold, and they must be in bed by 9:30 p.m. every night. There's little resistance, although children will always be disobedient runts. Becca wanders downstairs after curfew on the first night and catches Nana projectile vomiting. It's enough to give minor pause or a kernel of suspicion, but that's not where Nana and Pop Pop's behavior ceases to trouble.

An unsettling game of hide-and-seek with Nana becomes increasingly creepy, as Nana reacts irrationally to the mention of Loretta's name, and Tyler later discovers a mountain of dirty diapers in Pop Pop's shed. Then Pop Pop attacks someone in public and the youngsters' worry increases.

Nana and Pop Pop are confronted about their actions but dismiss one another's peculiar activity. Becca and Tyler are becoming more concerned by the minute and even see one of their grandparents' previous counseling patients arrive with a baked treat but never exit. Becca scours the internet for explanations and confides her concern in Loretta via video call, who downplays the habits of the elderly. Tyler decides to do some detective work of his own and rigs the camera as a secret surveillance device in the living room, hoping to catch Nana or Pop Pop doing whatever the kids aren't allowed to witness past bedtime.

Around 10:40 p.m. that night, Nana gives the documentarians something to fear.

Becca and Tyler lay asleep under dark shadows behind a locked bedroom door. The camera perspective flips to the living room in more shadowy darkness to suggest no one is awake and stirring — until Nana appears in the kitchen in her flowing nightgown. She seems to have a snack, which she places on the table. Then she walks to the closet and starts opening, then closing the door, slamming it repeatedly, fixated by each hard thrust.

The camera cuts back to Becca and Tyler's room, where neither is woken up by the banging downstairs.

Cut back to Nana's ruckus, and she abruptly stops. She walks trance-like across the camera's lens without paying it any attention, from far left to just out of frame, far right. Her shadow vanishes, and there's a moment of silence. Nana has disappeared, leaving an empty living room. Then a scamper starts off-camera, like something on all fours hurriedly crawling across the hardwood floor. We witness nothing, just the sound growing closer and louder.

The noise stops, and that's when Nana leaps from beneath the frame and makes an infernal growl. Something demonic. She purposely executes a quintessential found footage jump scare. It's brash, in our face, and supremely frightful as Nana glares into the lens with a noticeable scowl — she's being watched and doesn't appreciate the tactic. It's a dagger-filled look that means consequences.

She grabs the camera and walks into the kitchen once again, where she also grabs a knife. The camera, pointed towards the ground, keeps recording Nana as she ascends the stairs that lead back to the second floor. She puts the camera down, angled towards Becca and Tyler's door, where Nana briskly walks, brandishing the cutlery.

The camera swings back on Becca and Tyler, still snoozing, and we hear someone trying to jimmy their door open.

Tyler wakes up — there's a loud bang.

Nana attempts to bash down their door in frustration but goes back to the lock. Then another bang. Becca and Tyler are now sitting upright in their beds, staring at the door, praying whatever's on the other side can't enter.

The impact (Ariel's take)

Cringe-worthy rapping and gross-out tactics aside, "The Visit" definitely surprised me. It didn't linger quite the same way "Paranormal Activity" did, as far as found footage movies go, but I liked it well enough. The way Shyamalan weaponizes both the fear of the elderly and the fear of being accused of ageism is impressive, not to mention effective. And this is one of the best scares in the movie, without question.

I've said this before, and it'll likely come up many times in the future, but there are a few things that truly scare the s*** out of me, and one of them is being charged. Even the sound of feet running towards me is enough, whether it's coming from a movie or out in the real world. With all that said, Nana's footsteps probably scare me more than her jumping up in front of the camera with a snarl. Follow that with the absolute dead silence of the house and Nana's banging on the door ... no thanks. Hard pass. I'll stay at an Airbnb.

‘The Visit’ Ending Explained: Family Reunions Can Be Torture

What's wrong with Grandma?

The Big Picture

• In M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit , the main characters discover that the grandparents they are staying with are actually dangerous imposters.
• The twist is revealed when the children's mother realizes that the people claiming to be their grandparents are strangers who have assumed their identities.
• The climax of the film involves a tense and dangerous confrontation between the children and the imposters, resulting in the reveal of the true identities of the grandparents.

M. Night Shyamalan is considered a master at delivering drop-your-popcorn-level twisty conclusions to his haunting films. People still talk about the end of The Sixth Sense as perhaps one of the greatest twists in the history of modern cinema. The jaw-dropper at the end of Unbreakable ranks close to the top as well. But there is another pretty decent curveball that the director tosses up in a lesser-known movie that is currently streaming on Max. In 2016's The Visit (which is currently streaming on Max ) he plays on the hallowed relationship between children and their doting grandparents. How could Shyamalan toy with the innocence of this? It is an excellent film that deftly blends found footage with the director's signature slow-burning tension to leave audiences with yet another "WTF?" moment . Let's dig into what exactly happens at the end of his underrated movie, The Visit .

Two siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation.

What is 'The Visit' About?

Young Becca Jamison ( Olivia DeJonge ) and little brother Tyler ( Ed Oxenbould ) are sent away by their divorced mother Loretta ( Kathryn Hahn ) to finally meet and spend some time with their grandparents , Frederick, or Pop Pop ( Peter McRobbie ), and Maria, better known as Nana ( Deanna Dunagan ). They have a nice rural estate away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and it feels like this is going to be a heartwarming story of two generations of the Jamisons getting to know each other. It seems a bit odd that these two preteens have yet to meet their maternal grandparents, but Shyamalan explains that nicely in the first few scenes: Loretta has had a years-long falling out with her parents after leaving the family farm at the age of 19.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Eerie Found Footage Horror Movie Deserves Another Look

Loretta is still estranged from her parents but she wants her children to have a relationship with them — she only wants to go on a cruise with her new boyfriend and needs someone to watch the kids. So, the children have no idea what their Nana and Pop Pop actually look like. And you can feel something amiss from the very beginning of the film as the two precocious but excited kids set off to meet their grandparents. The entire film is told through the kids' (mainly Becca, an aspiring filmmaker) camcorder, as they have decided to document their trip. It's clear right away that Becca resents her father as a result of his abandonment, as she refuses to include any footage of her dad in her film.

Shyamalan Expertly Builds Tension in 'The Visit'

Upon the kids' arrival, Nana and Pop Pop seem like regular grandparents with regular questions like, "Do you like sports?" and "Why are your pants so low?" Nana tends to the chores like cooking and cleaning while Pop Pop handles the more rugged work outdoors like cutting wood. Naturally, Shyamalan tightens the screws immediately when the audience discovers that there is little to no cell phone reception, so he can isolate our four players into a single space. The Grandparents seem fairly easygoing but they have one strict rule — the kids must not come out of their bedroom after 9:30 pm. The very first night, Nana exhibits some bizarre behavior, walking aimlessly through the downstairs portion of the house and vomiting on the floor. However, the next morning she seems to be just fine.

Pop Pop explains to Becca and Tyler that she suffers from "sundowning" which is a very real diagnosis that usually affects the elderly . He tells them that at night Nana gets this feeling that something is in her body and just wants to get out. Pop Pop is clear and coherent, and yet again, we, along with our two young lead characters, assume the grandparents, while odd, are nothing to fear. A Zoom call with Loretta further assuages their fear by explaining away all the strange behavior as part of getting older. It's a back-and-forth that Shyamalan expertly navigates by pushing the audience only so far before reeling it back in with a logical explanation. But soon, things become inexplicably dire and dangerous.

"What's in the shed?" Tyler asks as he looks into the camera while contributing to Becca's documentary . "Is it dead bodies?" What he discovers is a pile of used, discarded adult diapers filled with Pop Pop's excrement. The smell sends Tyler reeling, and he falls out of the shed onto the snowy ground. This time, it's Nana who explains away Pop Pop's odd behavior. She tells her grandson that Pop Pop has incontinence and is so proud that he hides his waste in the shed. At this point, everything seems very odd to say the least, but there is nothing to suggest anything sinister is afoot . Not yet anyway. Even after he attacks a random stranger who he believes is watching him out on the streets on a trip into town, you still just think that maybe Pop Pop may just have a loose screw. However, the sense that these elderly people are something more than doting parents is intensified when Nana leaves Becca inside the oven for several seconds.

What Is the Twist at the End of 'The Visit'?

"Those aren't your grandparents?" Get the heck out of here! What?! Loretta finally sees the two people claiming to be her parents and tells Becca and Tyler via Skype that they aren't their beloved Nana and Pop Pop, but two complete strangers who have assumed their identities. Loretta immediately calls the police, but it will take hours for help to arrive at the remote farmhouse. Becca and Tyler are going to have to play along with these dangerous imposters. After the most tense and awkward game of Yahtzee in the history of board games, things get really, really ugly. Nana and Pop Pop haven't laid a hand on either of the kids in the movie so far. You can feel the slow and excruciating tension that Shyamalan is building . He knows that the audience is waiting for that "point of no return" moment when it is crystal clear that Becca and Tyler's lives are in danger. Becca manages to escape to the basement to discover the dead bodies of two elderly people murdered. Nana and Pop Pop are escaped mental patients from the nearby psychiatric hospital and have killed the real Jamison grandparents.

What Happens at the End of 'The Visit'?

Pop Pop realizes their cover is blown and becomes physical with Becca. He's upset that Becca is ruining Nana's perfect week as a grandmother. He tells her, "We're all dying today, Becca!" pushing her into a pitch-black upstairs room. Meanwhile, he grabs Tyler and takes him into the kitchen, and does one of the most foul and stomach-turning things ever in a Shyamalan film . He takes his used diaper and shoves it in the boy's face. He knows that Tyler is a germaphobe, and it is the most diabolical and traumatizing thing he could do to the boy. Becca is trapped upstairs with the sundowning Nana, fighting for her own life. After a struggle, Becca grasps a shard of glass from the broken mirror and is able to stab Nana multiple times in the gut.

She breaks the lock on the door and runs downstairs to help Tyler. She pulls "Pop Pop" off her traumatized younger brother. Suddenly, Tyler snaps out of his stupor and releases the pent-up anger of his football tackling lessons with his estranged father. He knocks Pop Pop to the ground and slams the refrigerator door on his head over and over . This is significant because earlier in the movie, Becca ribs Tyler about how he froze up during a big play in a youth football game, and this time he comes through to save Becca in the final kitchen scene conquering his biggest fears.

Loretta and the police arrive and the kids run frantically out of the house. The final scene has Loretta setting the record straight for the documentary about the traumatic moments surrounding her running away from home. 15 years before the events of the film, before Becca was born, Loretta fell out with her parents over her decision to marry her teacher. The argument led to Loretta and her parents getting physical with each other, and she left home that night and never responded to their attempts and pleas to reconnect. It's the most emotional scene in the film as Loretta is feeling a huge amount of guilt at never getting to say she was sorry for the strained relationship between her and her parents or getting to possibly hear an apology for the wrongs they also committed. Loretta tells Becca "Don't hold on to anger! You hear me?" The two then share a meaningful embrace. And the final shot is of the two kids with their dad on a birthday when they were much younger.

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• Two siblings become increasingly frightened by their grandparents' disturbing behavior while visiting them on vacation.
• Two children spend a week at their grandparents' house while their single mom goes on a relaxing vacation with her boyfriend. Becca decides to film a documentary about her grandparents to help her mom reconnect with her parents, and to find out some things about her parents as well. While filming, Becca and her little brother Tyler discover a dark secret about their grandparents.
• Siblings Becca and Tyler visit their grandparents for the first time ever. Their single mother decides not to accompany them because she's had problems with them in the past. Becca decides to make a documentary about the grandparents to reconnect them with their daughter. During filming, Becca and Tyler discover that their grandparents are not only acting weird but also hiding a dark secret. — Sophia Villatoro
• Teenage Becca and her younger brother Tyler live with their single mother, who left home 15 years ago and is estranged from her parents. Now they've found her online and want to meet their grandchildren, so they invite them to spend a week at their farm while their mother goes off with her boyfriend Miguel. Wannabe rapper and aspiring filmmaker Becca are welcomed by their grandparents and Becca decides to make a documentary of their visit. Soon they see strange behaviors and discover dark, disturbing secrets about their grandparents. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Teenage siblings Becca and Tyler go to stay with grandparents they've never met. Their mother stays behind because of her dark past with her parents. After a few nights the kids find out their grandparents have a dark, deadly secret.
• The film starts with 15-year-old Rebecca 'Becca' (Olivia DeJonge) interviewing her mother, Paula (Kathryn Hahn) for a documentary she's making about meeting her grandparents for the first time. Paula explains that as a teenager, she fell in love with her substitute teacher, and her parents didn't approve. Something happened when she was 19 that caused her to not want to see her parents again, for the last 15 years. She points out that her husband eventually fell in love with another woman he met at a Starbucks, and moved to Palo Alto. Becca asks her to go back and explain what exactly happened to cause the years of non-communication, and her mom tells her she won't tell her; if her grandparents want to give her that information, it's up to them. She tells them even though she hasn't talked to them in years, she knows they are nice, and they still volunteer at the local hospital. MONDAY MORNING We meet Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), Becca's younger brother, while they drive to Grand Central Station. He is age 13 and talks like a wannabe rapper, complaining that he's got three girls on deck and is upset he won't be able to text all week, due to having no cellphone reception where the grandparents live. Their mom hugs goodbye at Grand Central, and they board a train. On board, Tyler shows off his freestyling skills by rapping for the camera. Becca mentions that she agreed to the trip because their mom hasn't been able to connect with her new boyfriend, and a five-day cruise might help them get closer, (as in getting laid and having steamy, passionate, wild sex day in and day out!!). They get to Pennsylvania where their grandparents live, and they're waiting for them as they get off the train. The grandparents, John "Pop-Pop" (Peter McRobbie) and Doris "Nana" (Deanna Dunagan), seem friendly enough and take them back to their house. Tyler does a freestyle rap using Nana's suggestion of pineapple upside down cake. Becca discusses her documentary and her love of making movies. Tyler and Becca get settled into their room upstairs, which used to be their mother's. They play rock, paper, scissors to see who gets the bed and who gets the sofa, and Becca gets the bed. She tells Tyler about the old time song she's going to play over some of the footage when there's a happy conclusion to the week. She gives Tyler a second camera so he can film additional footage. Tyler films Pop-Pop mysteriously working in the shed. He calls out to him and Pop-Pop sees him but doesn't respond. Tyler coerces Becca to play Hide and Seek underneath the house. They crawl around, and then suddenly Nana is down on all fours behind Tyler. She races after him, and then Becca, each scurrying to get away from her as she seems demented and off, repeating "I'm going to get you" as she scurries after the kids. They escape from underneath the house, and Nana laughs, her hands sullied, seemingly aware of the game and simply trying to participate. She walks away, revealing the roughhousing has caused her dress to ride upwards, exposing her bare butt. A man comes to the door and asks to talk to their grandparents. They tell him they're not there. He says he knows them from Meadow Shade, the hospital they volunteer at a few days a week, and he has some gossip to tell them about the latest drama going on down there. Tyler decides he's going to investigate what's in the shed. He sneaks inside and says it "smells like ass". He finds in the corner a pile. He gets closer to see what it is and discovers it's used adult diapers. He runs out screaming. Inside, Nana explains to him that Pop-Pop is incontinent, and a lot of adults have to wear diapers. He hides them in the shed because he's ashamed, then he burns them. She then continues giving Becca tips on how to make cookies. That night, Pop-Pop comes into their room and tells them that there is mold in the basement, and they should not go down there. He also tells them that everyone follows the same schedule, so lights have to be out at 9:30. They agree but are annoyed, especially since there is no WiFi, and they can't use any electronics. Tyler decides to start using pop stars names instead of swearing in his raps and says if he stubs his toe, it sounds cooler to shout out "Shakira!" than a cuss word (This is a motif that is carried out throughout the movie with him shouting out Sarah McLachlan and Katy Perry in times of annoyance or danger). The two can't sleep, and it's now 10:23 PM. Becca says she's going to sneak out to get one of Nana's cookies. She opens the door and sees Nana walking in the dark, projectile vomiting. She quickly shuts the door. TUESDAY MORNING The next morning, Pop-Pop and Nana are outside with breakfast on the table. Nana apologizes because shes got hot oil all over Becca's computer but really only the webcam. Becca says she will probably be able to scrub it off with enough effort. The kids later ask Pop-Pop if Nana is sick. They are told Nana experiences something called "sundowning", which is a form of dementia that happens when the sun sets. It's the equivalent of talking in one's sleep and not to be concerned, but it's best for them to stay in their room during the night. He says Nana is convinced there are bad things inside her, so she throws up to get rid of them. As he's explaining this, he's putting on a tuxedo. They ask him if he's going somewhere, and he tells them there's a costume ball at the train station he's late for. He then realizes that he's confused and takes the tuxedo off. Pop-Pop takes Becca and Tyler through the town. They play a game where they make up stories about people who live in the buildings including the closed police station. When they try to make up a story about a tall building, Pop-Pop tells them its Meadow Shade where they volunteer, and he'll show it to them when he gets his Meadow Shade badge from home. They go to the park to play, but Pop-Pop tells them they have to leave because they're being followed. The kids see a man across the street using his cell phone, not paying attention to the three of them. Pop-Pop runs over and begins to assault the man, yelling at him. Becca and Tyler convince him to leave the man alone, and Pop-Pop apologizes to them. Back home, Becca is in the kitchen with Nana. She asks her if she can interview her, but Nana does not want to be on camera. Instead, she asks for Becca's help cleaning the oven. Becca cleans with just her arm, but Nana tells her to lean into it. Nana then convinces her to get completely inside. While she's fully submerged in the oven, Nana bounces up and down excitedly. Becca reappears, and Nana tells her she is ready to be in her movie. Becca interviews Nana by asking her warm-up questions. When she asks Nana what happened 15 years ago to cause her not to speak to her daughter, Nana starts going berserk, shaking violently, and screams that she no longer wants to be in Becca's movie. Outside, Tyler interviews Becca asking what animal shed want to be (a dolphin), then why she likes the pizza guy despite him having bad acne (he has kind eyes.) Then he asks her why she can't look at herself in the mirror, pointing out when she brushes her hair, she does it with her back to the mirror. And when she brushes her teeth, she looks down. She hints that it's because their dad abandoned the three of them years ago, and she has felt rejected. Tyler defends his dad, saying there was a time when he was eight when he was playing peewee football. His team was up by three, and it was the fourth quarter and they were set to win as long as nobody scored in the final minutes. A big kid came running towards him but instead of blocking him, he just froze. Everyone started screaming at him but he was completely frozen, immobile, which is what happens when he's afraid. But his dad never judged him for it. But he sometimes blames that for being why his dad went away. In the editing software, she's piecing together on her computer, Becca films herself in front of an obstructed slideshow of pictures of her brother, her, and their father. She says that while she's trying to tell the story of her mom's parents, she will not be including anybody from the past that she doesn't consider worthy of acknowledgment. That night, at 10:47 PM, they hear a scary sound coming outside their locked door. The two want to film what's on the other side, so Tyler tells Becca to open the door. She refuses. He then says if she holds the camera, hell open the door. He does, and they reveal a naked Nana clawing at the door opposite them, scratching like a frantic dog. He shuts the door and declares that he's now partially blind. WEDNESDAY MORNING The next morning, Becca interviews Pop-Pop, and he tells her how he used to have a great job, but he used to see a white figure with yellow eyes at his job. Nobody else could see it, but he was insistent it was there. So he was eventually fired. He warns Becca that she, too, will see the white figure with yellow eyes one day. She tells him he seems sad. Tyler tries to convince Becca to set the camera up in the living room so it can film what happens at night. She says she can't film their grandparents unless one of them is there otherwise it's unethical. She explains they're both experiencing signs of early onset schizophrenia. A neighbor named Stacey comes over, telling them their grandparents volunteered at the hospital when she was in rehab, and she baked treats to thank them. The kids get an Ethernet cord and now talk to their mom on Skype. Tyler tells her Nana is acting weird. The mom tells them "they're old, and that's just how old people act". Becca defends them and says they are weird but nice. Tyler and Becca both agree that this is a 1 on the scale of problems. Their mom comments how she wishes she could see them (but can't because their webcam is blocked from Nana's mishap in the kitchen). Their mom leaves to watch her boyfriend in a Hairy Chest contest on the cruise ship. That night, at 10:16 PM, they hear an odd commotion outside the door. They want to know what Nana is doing this time but are too scared to look. Becca decides just to open the door and film for a short while, for the documentary sake. When she opens the door, they see Nana running past, with both arms behind her back, rushing past them, in both directions. Just as she's about to crawl towards the camera, they shut and lock the door. THURSDAY MORNING The next morning, the four of them go out into the woods. Becca says she doesn't want to leave without getting an elixir for Mom. While the grandparents are ahead on the trail, Tyler begins to mimic Nana's running with her arms behind the back only to get caught by Nana, who tells them they're going to miss the family of foxes. They turn the corner and see Nana staring into a well. They ask her what she's looking at, but Pop-Pop tells them it's nothing. Tyler and Becca return to the well later to try to figure out what is hidden inside. But all they pull up is water. Becca goes in the shed and finds Pop-Pop with a rifle in his mouth. He declares he's just cleaning it and then mimics cleaning it. Later that evening, Becca is in the living room and hears Nana laughing hysterically. She decides to show what kind of television show makes her Nana laugh, hoping it's the same one her mom loves. But she finds Nana rocking in a chair, facing the wall. She asks Nana what she's laughing about and is told the naughty spirits are inside her, and she laughs to keep them at bay. She then tells her a story about how there are people in the water that were stolen by people from another planet. These people will later be collected and sent back to this planet but for now, they're at the bottom of water. Becca tries to interview her again, but she goes crazy when she is asked about the night that caused them to become estranged. When Becca presents it as a story about a girl who fell in love with an older man, whose family did not approve, and what she would say to the girl, Nana tells her I would tell the girl "I'm sorry." Becca now has her elixir, an apology from Nana. Outside the window, they see Nana and Pop-Pop in a heated argument with their neighbor, Stacey. They wonder what they are fighting about. Becca decides Tyler is right and that they should set up the camera in the living room to see exactly what goes on at night. Becca also wonders what's in the basement given that they were told not to go down there. At night, Tyler is freaking out because he touched something slimy on the toilet handle and can feel it seeping into his skin. Becca gets tissues and helps wipe it off. Time passes, and they fall asleep. In the living area, Nana opens and slams the basement door several times. She then rushes around the room, crawling like a dog then appears..... RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE HIDDEN CAMERA and screams. She picks up the camera and then films herself going into the kitchen where she grabs a butcher knife. She makes her way up to the kids' bedroom and begins pounding at their door. Becca and Tyler wake up, startled. They can hear Nana trying to get in but just stay still. FRIDAY MORNING: The next morning, they watch the footage and see that Nana was trying to kill them. Becca tells them that their mom is back from her vacation that day so they just have to avoid their grandparents all day until she can come and get them. They throw the ball around and every time the grandparents come by, they tell them "We're playing. This is how kids play." Inside, they try to avoid their grandparents by going out to play but Nana asks if Becca can help clean the oven first. Becca leans in, but Nana tells her to go in further. Tyler objects but Nana tells him they've done this before. Becca finally climbs all the way in and Nana pushes her fully inside and shuts the door, telling her she wants to do something real quick and wipes down the handle. Tyler screams at her to open up the oven, and she does. Becca is shaken up, and they quickly go outside and play. They wait until the grandparents are out front and then get on Skype, hoping to sneak in a call without the grandparents being aware. The oil has now been scrubbed off of the webcam so their mom can see them, too. The mom is back home and tries telling them about her vacation and a fight with her boyfriend, but they quickly tell her that she needs to come and pick them up right now. She tells them, "Do you know how long it'd take to drive from here to there?" but they tell her to get in the car immediately and make her way to them. They say that their grandparents are scaring them; Nana tried to kill them with a butcher knife, and Pop-Pop put a gun in his mouth and she's afraid he's going to hurt himself. Tyler films the grandparents from the window so his mom can see them. The mom is now white-faced and tells them she has to tell them something and for them to listen. She says: "THOSE ARE NOT YOUR GRANDPARENTS!!!!" She asks if they've been staying with them all week and tries to call the local police but gets a recorded message (the station is closed). The mom complains that the hick town has an incompetent police department, and she's going to drive to come get them and will continue to try to call the police on the way. Heading out, she tells them to get somewhere safe but just then the grandparents return, and they shut down Skype. The grandparents suggest having a board game night, but the kids say they want to check something outside while the grandparents figure out the teams. They head for the yard only to see..... STACEY HANGING DEAD FROM A TREE! Nana appears and tells them they already have the teams... Old versus young. The kids are forced to play Yahtzee with the fake grandparents, who eerily pretend everything is normal, Nana complaining how competitive Pop-Pop is. They begin to play the game, but the grandparents are becoming more demented. Pop-Pop begins dressing up for the costume party again. Becca excuses herself from the game saying she's got to film something real quick. Pop-Pop is suspicious and angry. Nana gets excited and starts eating cookies frantically. She turns to the camera Tyler has placed on the table and screams "YAHTZEE!" Becca goes down to the basement, explaining to the viewer that she thinks her real grandparents have been trapped down there, and that's why Pop-Pop told them to stay away. She begins calling out for the real Nana and Pop-Pop but doesn't hear a response. In the corner, she sees a dumpster and hurries over to it. Inside are family photos of her real grandparents. She also sees something from Meadow Shade which she now learns is a MENTAL HOSPITAL. She digs some more and finds a hammer with blood and white hair on it and then sees..... THE CORPSES OF AN OLD WOMAN AND OLD MAN! Immediately behind her, Pop-Pop has appeared. He explains that he and the woman they know as Nana were mental patients and their real grandparents were volunteers. When they told them about their upcoming visit with their grandchildren, the two imposters decided it would be fun to experience in their place. But he is now determined to kill Becca. He chases Becca up into her room and locks her in. But she manages to defend herself, then busts the lock and escapes. Its past 9:30 PM. Nana is beginning to "sundown" and starts crawling around the couches, chasing Becca. Meanwhile, Pop-Pop comes down to the kitchen with Tyler, who is frozen in fear, just like during the peewee game. Pop-Pop tells him he's under a spell and tells Tyler he never liked him. He goes behind the kitchen counter and removes his pants while the frozen Tyler looks on. Simultaneously, Becca continues to be chased by Nana. Becca's hiding in the corner facing the mirror but as normal, she doesn't look at herself, so she's oblivious that Nana's creeping up on her. Nana smashes Becca's face into the mirror and pieces of glass shatter all around them. Becca picks up a shard of glass as Nana jumps on top of her, clawing at her. ' In the kitchen, Pop-Pop has now revealed that he's removed a dirty diaper. He comments that he's noticed Tyler doesn't like germs and then shoves the dirty adult diaper into Tyler's face. Meanwhile, Nana is on top of Becca, trying to kill her, but Becca stabs Nana to death with the glass shared. In the kitchen, Becca encourages Tyler to snap out of his frozen state, and he does, charging at Pop-Pop again and again and shouting as if he's tackling the big player on the peewee league. He has so much adrenaline that he pummels Pop-Pop to the ground and then smashes the refrigerator door against his head several times (unseen to the audience). The kids run outside to find their mom and police cars out front. They hug their mom as the old time music that Becca promised to play at an important moment in her film plays. Back home, the mom tells Becca that she used to be a great singer, and she could tell her mom was proud of her when she'd sing around the house as a kid. The fight happened because they didn't approve of her husband and when her mom blocked the door to keep her from leaving, she hit her mom and in response, her dad hit her. Stunned by the event, she stormed out and even though her parents tried to reconnect with her, she never talked to them again. She tells Becca not to hold on to anger. In response, we see the slideshow of Becca's dad that she previously said was banned from her documentary, played in full. As the credits roll, we see Becca brushing her hair while looking at herself in the mirror while Tyler performs a rap to camera about the events that took place over those five days, including getting a used adult diaper shoved in his face and how it took two bars of soap to feel clean again. He says it did not taste like chicken.

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M. Night Shyamalan's Films Ranked From Absolute Worst To Best (Including Old)

James bond already proved the best way to reboot the franchise, 18 years ago, the godfather part ii ending explained: what the movie's final shot means.

Spoilers for M. Night Shyamalans' The Visit.

• Loretta's strained relationship with her parents and lack of photos and communication were clues to The Visit's twist.
• Becca and Tyler had never met their grandparents before and didn't know what they looked like.
• The grandparents had strange rules, and Nana's odd behavior during hide-and-seek hinted at their true intentions.

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit has every element that makes a Shyamalan horror movie, including a plot twist that was hinted at throughout the whole movie. After rising to fame in 1999 with The Sixth Sense , M. Night Shyamalan has continued to make movies, mostly horror ones that often include a twist and shocking reveal. Although these elements led to predictable and disappointing reveals and movies, there are others with interesting twists that added to the tension of the story, as was the case of the 2015 found footage horror movie The Visit .

The Visit follows siblings Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), who live with their divorced mother, Loretta (Kathryn Hahn). Loretta hasn’t talked to or seen her parents in 15 years, but when they get into contact with her, Becca and Tyler convince her to let them visit them for a week. As they have never met their grandparents, Becca decides to make a documentary film of the experience. Once with their grandparents at their isolated farmhouse, it all seems normal at first but gets gradually stranger and more disturbing, leading to a shocking reveal: the “grandparents” aren't the real ones, and they killed Loretta’s parents to pose as them .

Our ranking of M. Night Shyamalan's best and worst films includes everything from his first debut drama to his most recent thriller, Old.

Loretta Had No Relationship With Her Parents In The Visit

Loretta didn’t even take her children to the farm..

The first big red flag in The Visit that pointed at this not being a typical trip to the grandparents’ house was Loretta’s relationship with them. At the beginning of The Visit , Loretta explained that she left her parents’ home after falling in love with Becca and Tyler’s father, whom her parents never approved of. Loretta didn’t share more details at first, but at the end of The Visit , it’s revealed that she had a major argument with her parents in which she hit her mother and her father struck her, and after that, she ignored all their attempts to contact her.

Loretta’s resentment and anger went as far as not showing her children photos of her parents , nor did she make the effort to accompany her children to her parents’ house – after all, it was their first time going there and meeting their grandparents. Loretta’s estranged relationship is one of the biggest and earliest clues to The Visit ’s big twist.

Becca & Tyler Had Never Seen Their Grandparents Before

Becca & tyler had no idea what their grandparents looked like..

Not making them part of her and her children’s lives, and not having any photos of them, made it so Becca and Tyler had no idea of what they actually looked like.

Loretta’s difficult relationship with her parents led to her not talking about them, not making them part of her and her children’s lives, and not having any photos of them, so Becca and Tyler had no idea of what they looked like. This certainly made it easier for the fake grandparents to lure Becca and Tyler in , but it was yet another hint at this not being a normal trip to visit the grandparents.

The Kids Weren’t Allowed To Leave Their Room After 9:30 pm.

The grandparents had a couple of rules that had to be followed..

The first rule was because the “grandparents” were hiding the bodies of the real ones in the basement.

Once at the farm, it seemed like a quiet and calm place and the grandparents seemed pleasant, but they had a couple of rules that Becca and Tyler had to follow. The first one was that they weren’t allowed to go into the basement because it had mold, and the second one was that bedtime was at 9:30 every day, and they weren’t allowed to leave their room after that. The first rule was because the “grandparents” were hiding the bodies of the real ones in the basement, but the second one was more complicated.

Nana acted erratically at night , projectile vomiting, running around the house, crawling like an animal, and ripping the walls while naked, among other disturbing things. Leaving their room after 9:30 pm would have not only endangered Becca and Tyler, but it would have also revealed there was something wrong with the grandparents.

Nana’s Odd Behaviour During Hide-and-Seek

One of the visit’s biggest scarejumps..

With not much to do at the farm, Becca and Tyler decided to play hide and seek under the house, but to their surprise, Nana was also there. Nana chased Tyler and Becca, crawling like an animal , and when they all got out, she acted as if nothing had happened and went back inside the house. That same behavior was repeated later on in the movie, further disturbing Becca and Tyler.

Pop Pop Attacked An Unknown Man On The Street

Pop pop believed he was being followed..

Another red flag in Pop Pop’s behavior (after the reveal of the shed with piles of soiled diapers) was when he and Nana took Becca and Tyler to see the school Loretta attended when she was younger. There, Pop Pop saw a man on the other side of the street and, believing he had been following them for a while, attacked him. It wasn’t until Becca stopped him that Pop Pop realized he didn’t know the man, and though this was brushed off by Becca and Loretta as “old people” behavior, Tyler knew something wasn’t right.

Nana “Accidentally” Covered Becca’s Laptop Camera With Dough

Nana temporarily left becca & tyler without their webcam..

Becca and Tyler kept in touch with Loretta through video calls every day while Loretta was on a cruise with her new boyfriend. One day, Nana apologized to Becca for ruining her laptop as she spilled dough on it and tried to clean it but couldn’t get rid of the dough on the camera. Loretta wasn’t able to see her kids because of this , but it was soon clear Nana did it on purpose so Loretta couldn’t see them and thus tell the kids they weren’t the real grandparents.

Dr. Sam’s Visit To Check On The Grandparents

Dr. sam’s visit was a big clue to what happened to the grandparents..

Had the grandparents been home when Dr. Sam arrived, The Visit would have ended earlier.

During their time at the farm, only two people came to visit. The first one was Dr. Sam, who worked at the same hospital where Becca and Tyler’s grandparents volunteered. The grandparents weren’t around when Dr. Sam arrived, but he told Becca and Tyler that he wanted to check on them as they hadn’t gone to work in a couple of days. Had the grandparents been home when Dr. Sam arrived, The Visit would have ended earlier.

Nana Asked Becca To Clean The Oven

Nana had other intentions..

In one of the most suspenseful and strangest moments in The Visit , Nana suddenly asked Becca to help her clean the back of the oven. Becca did so to help her, but Nana insisted that she reach the far back of it, thus getting in completely. Although Nana didn’t do anything to Becca the first time, the second time she asked her for help she closed the oven to clean the outside and then opened it again, letting Becca out.

This moment is reminiscent of the tale of Hansel & Gretel and how the witch tried to trick Gretel into getting inside the oven.

Stacey’s Visit & Confrontation

Stacey realized these weren’t the real grandparents..

The second visit was from a woman named Stacey, whom Becca and Tyler’s real grandparents had helped in counseling at the hospital. As the grandparents weren’t home when she arrived, she returned later and came face to face with the fake grandparents. Stacey tried to get them to leave with her to take them back to the hospital, but they ended up killing her and hanging her body from a tree. Stacey realized these weren’t Becca and Tyler’s real grandparents , but the siblings didn’t understand her reaction.

Why Nana & Pop Pop Killed The Real Grandparents

Becca & tyler never got to meet their real grandparents..

Nana was revealed to have committed murder in the past, and they were both jealous of the real grandparents’ happiness and the visit of their grandkids.

During Becca and Tyler’s final night at the farm, the truth was unveiled: Nana and Pop Pop were patients at the mental hospital where Becca and Tyler’s grandparents volunteered, and the real ones were murdered by them and their bodies kept in the basement. Nana was revealed to have committed murder in the past, and they were both jealous of the real grandparents’ happiness and the visit of their grandkids , so they killed them and took their place.

Clues like Loretta having no photos of her parents and the kids never having met them were necessary to keep the big reveal of The Visit a secret, while others like Dr. Sam and Stacey’s visit added to the horrors that were about to be unleashed at the farm.

From director M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit follows two siblings who are sent to stay with their estranged grandparents while their mother is out of town on vacation. Realizing that all isn't what it seems during their stay, the siblings set out to find out what is really going on at their grandparents' home. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould star as Becca and Tyler, with Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn making up the rest of the main cast. 

• The Visit (2015)

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The Visit Trailer Will Make You Not Want to Call Your Grandparents Ever Again

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film-slash-chance at redemption, The Visit , has two grandkids visiting their grandparents for a weeklong getaway in Pennsylvania. Fun , except, they get Hansel and Gretel –ed and Paranormal Activity –ed once the clock strikes 9:30 p.m. (I swear that’s not a spoiler because that’s all in this trailer, and, hey, on top of all that, there’ll most likely be a twist to make things really crazy .) The movie comes out September 11, but you can get thoroughly creeped out right here, right now. When you’re done, though, please face your fears, and call your grandparents and relatives to make sure they haven’t been scratching any walls lately.

• m. night shyamalan
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Overanalysing Pop Culture Since 2014

The Visit is the Last Trip to Grandma & Grandpa’s You’ll Ever Take

The Visit. 2015. Directed & Written by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn. Blinding Edge Pictures/Blumhouse Productions. Rated 14A. 94 minutes. Horror/Thriller

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Entertainment

Is 'The Visit's Sundowning A Real Disorder?

Before I begin, I would like to make one thing deeply clear: I would not recommend looking to horror films as a tool to learn more about the intricacies of neuropsychology. M. Night Shyamalan's new film The Visit is no exception. That said, the film does reference the very real neurodegenerative disease "sundowning," and for that, it deserves some attention. So, what is sundowning , and is it anything like we see in the film?

If you don't recall, here's how sundowning is referenced in the film: When 15-year-old Becca and eight-year-old Tyler go to visit their elderly grandparents, whom they've never met, they become acutely aware that their grandmother, Doris, begins to act rather erratically when night falls. After Becca witnesses Doris projectile vomiting one night and clawing at the walls in the nude, her grandfather reveals that Doris suffers from "sundowning." Becca looks into the disease online, and shares with her brother that, yes, it is a legit condition that can affect the elderly due to "chemical reactions" in the brain that are triggered by the lack of sunlight. Doris' increasingly violent behavior — laughing to herself, asking Becca to get inside the oven to "clean it," grabbing a knife to stab the children — is explained away by the disease for much of the film.

But, how does sundowning affect sufferers in real life?

This is likely obvious, but it's hardly like what's seen in the film. According to WebMD , sundowning is actually a side effect for those suffering from a form of dementia, likely Alzheimer's Disease. It causes the sufferer to be increasingly confused and agitated in the later hours of the night, and those who have witnessed the condition in loved ones often report sufferers exhibiting symptoms of frustration, irritation, disorientation, suspicion, hallucinations, yelling, and exhaustion, amongst other things. Violent outbursts — which Doris suffered from — are not listed as a symptom.

This is all seen in the film — but the parts where Doris is crawling around the house as if she were possessed by a demon are not at all typical of the disease. As the Mayo Clinic reports , symptoms of the phenomenon are actually set off by "fatigue, low lighting, increased shadows, disruption of the body's "internal clock," [and] difficulty separating reality from dreams." Episodes can last hours into the night, which causes the sufferer to feel greatly fatigued and restless — both feelings that can unfortunately worsen the symptoms of sundowning, leading to a rather vicious circle.

According to informational videos from the Alzheimer Society of Ontario , strategies to lessen the severity of episodes range from no napping — which encourages the sufferer to actually sleep at night — to avoiding caffeine, increasing lighting, and partaking in calming activities.

In some senses, the portrayal of "sundowning" in The Visit is rather accurate — Doris is often increasingly confused at nights, and prone to erratic behavior in low lighting (remember when she chased Becca and Tyler as they were playing hide-and-seek under the house?). However, I'm fairly certain that her increasingly violent behavior, as well as her psychopathic tendencies, can actually be chocked up to a different disorder. As the film reveals ( spoiler alert! ), Doris and John aren't actually Doris and John — instead, they are escaped patients from the mental hospital that the real Doris and John used to volunteer at every Tuesday and Thursday. When fake Doris and John heard how excited the real Doris and John were to finally meet their grandkids, they escaped and killed the couple so that they could spend a picturesque week together like a real family (the reason for this, as fake John later explains to Becca, is because fake Doris killed her own children years ago, so she "deserved" a week to feel like a real grandmother).

Based off of this explanation, it's not out of the realm of possibility that fake Doris suffered from other mental disorders in addition to dementia.

Once again, taking any actual scientific information from a film that was created with the intent to scare audiences is not something I would recommend — but learning more about a real life disease that affects many elderly patients as a result of seeing the film is definitely not a bad move.

The Visit hits theaters Sept. 11.

Image: Universal Pictures

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Let's Talk About the Twist in M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Visit' (Spoilers!)

Olivia DeJonge in ‘The Visit’ (Universal Pictures)

[Warning: We’re going to spoil the big twist of The Visit in the very first paragraph and then discuss the ending, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, look away.]

For someone who was at one point regarded as the Master of the Mind-Blowing Plot Twist, it’s funny to think how almost every one of director M. Night Shyamalan’s surprise endings are essentially summed up by a single line of dialogue. Think, “ I see dead people ,” in The Sixth Sense , “ They called me Mr. Glass ,” in Unbreakable or “ Swing away ,” in Signs . The director’s new film, The Visit (in theaters today) tosses another one sentence-wonder on the pile: “Those aren’t your grandparents.” Uttered at the pivot point between the second and third acts, those words provide an otherwise formulaic movie with a much-needed kick in the pants as it enters the climactic home stretch.

But let’s back up a minute to explain why that sentence pulls the audience back in at the moment they might otherwise check out. Made in The Blair Witch Project found-footage tradition, The Visit depicts a family reunion that’s being documented by a pair of precocious youngsters, 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and 13-year-old Tyler (Ed Oxenbould). In order to give their single mom (Kathryn Hahn) a chance to take a much-needed vacation with her new boyfriend — her first steady beau since their father split — the kids have volunteered to spend a week with the grandparents they’ve never met. How have they gone this long without receiving a birthday phone call or even a card from their Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie)? Well, as Mom tells it, she fled their household nearly two decades ago under contentious circumstances and has deliberately refrained from seeing or speaking to them since. She’s clinging to that resentment so fiercely, she doesn’t even have any pictures of her parents around…a plot point that will become important later on.

Deanna Dunagan in ‘The Visit’ (Universal Pictures)

After years of silence, the old folks have taken steps to heal this rift by asking to meet their grandchildren. Becca, the budding filmmaker of the two siblings, sees the potential for a heart-wrenching documentary to be made from this week-long vacation and eagerly equips herself with two digital cameras. But rather than teary confessionals and family secrets laid bare, she ends up capturing some truly disturbing behavior not long after she and Tyler pass through the doorway of Nana and Pop Pop’s isolated Pennsylvania farmhouse. On their very first night, Becca records her grandmother roaming about the house, vomiting all over the floor. And at roughly the same time each subsequent evening, Nana is out of her bed doing something bizarre, whether it’s crawling around the floor on her hands and knees or moaning and banging on cabinets and doors. Pop Pop blames her problems on “ sundowning ,” an actual medical condition affecting dementia patients. Meanwhile, he’s got his own problems, including a shed where he keeps poop-filled diapers (he’s incontinent, you see) and a penchant for cleaning guns by sticking them in his mouth.

Much of this potentially paranormal activity has already been teased in the movie’s trailer , which is designed to make you think that: A) The grandparents are demons; B) The grandparents are possessed by demons; C) The grandparents have been replaced by body-snatching monsters from a parallel dimension. As it turns out, though, their crazy behavior is due to the fact that they’re both legitimately crazy. They’re also — big twist! — not Nana and Pop Pop, as Hahn’s character belatedly reveals when Becca and Tyler surreptitiously film the elderly couple during a Skype session on the last day of their stay. (Estranged daughter that she is, she has conveniently not wanted to speak with them in earlier video calls.) Because Mom is hours away by car and the local police aren’t answering, the kids have to stay in the house with these strangers for a full day pretending like nothing has changed.

Watch the trailer:

Too bad for them that Pop Pop decides to prove that being crazy isn’t the same thing as being stupid. Aware that the ruse is up, he fills in the backstory behind the twist. Prior to taking up residence in the farmhouse, he and “Nana” were patients at a nearby mental hospital where the real Nana and Pop Pop were regular volunteers.

Jealous at their happiness over the impending visit of their grandkids, the frauds forced their way into the home and murdered the couple with a hammer, stashing their bodies in the basement. (Throughout the movie, other folks from the hospital have been stopping by the house to check up on the popular duo, but their replacements have conspired to be “out for a walk” during these visits.) They then went to the train station to pick up Becca and Tyler who were none the wiser because, remember, no pictures! Also, no Mom around to warn them otherwise. (Not for nothing, but this twist really does elevate Hahn to Worst Mother in the World status.)

Peter McRobbie in ‘The Visit’ (Universal Pictures)

Of course, now that the kids know, they’ll have to die — a fate they manage to avoid by killing the escaped mental patients instead. As the siblings stumble outside, the cops and their mother finally show up and whisk them away to safety. In a final coda, Becca finally gets the on-camera waterworks she’s been searching for when Mom reveals that she had the opportunity to mend fences with her parents years ago, but decided to hold onto her grudge instead — a choice that indirectly led to their deaths. She tearfully tells her daughter that forgiveness is essential, which in turn allows Becca to let go of some of the lingering anger she feels towards her own father for ditching their family.

In the past, some of Shyamalan’s twists have deepened his movies, turning, for instance, The Sixth Sense into a parable about grief and Unbreakable into a real world exploration of comic-book mythology. With The Visit though, the big revelation cheapens the movie to a certain extent. When you step back and think about it, there’s something deeply unpleasant about the way he’s using the mentally ill as routine horror-movie boogeymen. In the moment, however, the twist achieves its goal of catching the audience off guard. During the screening I was in, a wave of loud gasps swept through the packed house when Hahn said, “Those aren’t your grandparents” — the same gasps I heard 16 years ago in the final moments of The Sixth Sense when everyone figured out at the same instant that Bruce Willis had been dead all along. Shyamalan may no longer be considered “ The Next Spielberg ,” but that reaction to The Visit indicates that he’s still capable of some Spielbergian surprises.

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David Craig Movies

From st. louis, missouri.

Posted on September 10, 2015

Grandparents are weird. They talk funny, they smell funny, they act funny. And those are your normal, run-of-the-mill grandparents!

In The Visit , Becca and Tyler (ages 15 and 13) take a train ride from Philly to rural Pennsylvania to spend a week with grandparents they’ve never met. Their single mom has been estranged from her parents for years, until they find their daughter online and ask to see the grandkids.

Why would a mother (Kathryn Hahn) allow such a thing? Well, the teens (played by Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould) are bright and self-assured. And mom wants to go away on a cruise with her new guy.

The grandkids are delightfully chatty, always recording video. Many of the film’s key scenes include their “found footage.” They engage in Skype conversations with their mom while she cruises. Tyler’s white-kid raps are clever and hilarious.

The grandparents Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) seem like sweet people. They pick up the kids at the train station and bring them back to their farmhouse. Soon, weird things begin to happen. Frightening things. Funny things.

As nights and days go by, the grandparents are revealed to be a bit stranger than your grandparents or mine. The Visit establishes a solid level of creepiness. There’s a visual shout out to a horror/suspense classic. Suspense builds.

Two questions need answering: What the heck is going on? And… Is writer/director M. Night Shyamalan still capable of making an engaging movie?

Second question first. Shyamalan, who burst onto the movie scene with The Sixth Sense in 1999 and followed with Unbreakable in 2000, went into an artistic slump after 2002’s Signs . With The Visit , he shows that he maintains the ability to merge strong characters with a plot that keeps an audience engaged and wondering.

Regarding what the heck is going on… well, no spoilers here. But… A key element of a successful suspense thriller is a decent payoff to the setup. The Visit accomplishes that trick and delivers a fast-moving hour and a half of creepy fun. It’s a movie to enjoy.

Call your grandma and see if she’d like to go with you!

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WMG / The Visit

Edit locked.

• Jossed. The grandparents actually are imposters who killed the real grandparents and are mentally insane.

The grandparents aren't possessed. Something caused them to snap.

• Jossed. In the scene where the kids talk to their mom via Skype and tell her something wrong, they hold the laptop up to look out the window. When they bring the laptop back down, the mom says that's not Nana and Pop Pop and asked where they were. Then the realization comes through on her face that her children are with strangers at her parents house and attempts to try to call the local law enforcement with no luck. The way she acts is a clear sign that she is panicked and that its not her parents.

The only reason this is being marketed as a "horror-comedy" is because of the Narm / So Bad, It's Good reactions his recent films have gotten. So if they make it look like they were not taking it too seriously and being ridiculous on purpose , maybe people would be more willing to accept the sillier parts of the story .

Grandparents are related to some of well-known fairy tale witches Grandma asks her granddaughter to come in oven to clean it. Kids often trick witches into coming in oven in tales, so she decided to learn from her cousin's mistakes but just couldn't resist irony.

• Jossed. What kind of point of a prank would there be when the kids end up killing the imposters at the end of the film while trying to defend themselves?
• This one turns out to be closest to the truth. It's not a prank or Scare 'Em Straight ploy, but all the weirdness is just regular human madness, with nothing supernatural about it. The only thing it gets wrong (and that M. Night wisely kept out of the trailers) is that the grandparents aren't the grandparents.

The film is a modern version of Hansel and Gretel Brother and sister? Check. Creepy old woman (and her husband)? Check. Instructing one of the kids to get into the oven? Oh come on, how much more obvious can you get!?

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