Lady in the Water (2006): Irrelevancy
This movie sucks. I’m not gonna lie. That’s mostly because of how ham-fisted it is about showcasing Shyamalan’s genius. The filmmaker cast himself in this modern fairy tale as a prolific writer destined to inspire a generation, and be sacrificed (meaning assassinated) for it. At this point, Shyamalan had seen his reputation as the industry’s greatest talent be tarnished with The Village, so this comes across like a dive into Shyamalan’s psyche. It’s presented as confidence when really it’s a fear that he’s not as prolific as folks built him up to be.
