The Next Picture Show

#160: Enter The Shyamalaniverse, Pt. 1 - Unbreakable

With M. Night Shyamalan’s new GLASS purporting to be the culmination of his so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy, we’re returning to the film that set it in motion, and that many rank among the divisive writer-director’s best: UNBREAKABLE. How does this brooding, stylistically bold superhero origin story look today, in a culture where both comics and their movie adaptations play a much more central role than they did in 2000? How do Shyamalan’s various auteur signatures, good and bad alike, play out in  this film and his filmography more generally? We get into all that and more, with some bonus disagreement on Shyamalan’s breakthrough, THE SIXTH SENSE, and some feedback on our recent episodes on THE FAVOURITE and INTO THE SPIDERVERSE.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNBREAKABLE, GLASS, or any other corner of the Shyamalaniverse by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  
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Looking at cinema's present via its past. The Next Picture Show is a biweekly roundtable by the former editorial team of The Dissolve examining how classic films inspire and inform modern movies. Episodes take a deep dive into a classic film and its legacy in the first half, then compare and contrast that film with a modern successor in the second. Hosted and produced by Genevieve Koski, Keith Phipps, Tasha Robinson and Scott Tobias.