Taglines: It’s not like they didn’t warn us.
The Hess family lives on a farm in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former Episcopal priest who lost his faith in God after his wife, Colleen, died in a horrific traffic accident caused by a veterinarian named Ray Reddy (played by M. Night Shyamalan).
Additionally, Graham cannot come to terms with his son Morgan’s (Rory Culkin) asthma condition which causes great suffering. No longer practicing religiously, Graham and Morgan live with Graham’s daughter, Bo (Abigail Breslin), who has a strange habit of leaving unfinished glasses of water around the house, and Graham’s younger brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former minor league baseball star who never made it to the big leagues because of a habit of swinging at whatever pitch came his way.
Things are fairly uneventful in Graham’s life until a mysterious crop circle appears in his cornfield. Its origin and purpose is unknown; some townspeople speculate that it may be a prank while a few others think that it may have been created by intelligent alien life-forms. Meanwhile, reports of violent animal behavior has spread across town, supported by one of the Hess dogs trying to attack Bo and Morgan.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Graham’s farm is under watch. One night, he and Merrill chase a tall, dark figure who was spying on them from the roof of their barn. The mysterious being disappears into the crops, moving faster and disappearing far more easily than anyone can explain.
Soon Graham and his family are shocked to learn that similar crop circles have suddenly appeared all over the world in ways too quickly to be merely a grand, elaborate hoax. Morgan takes a liking to a sheriff’s radio walkie-talkie and she tells him that he can use a baby monitor but it will only work one way.
He finds Bo has an old baby monitor in the basement and decides to take it into town. On their return home, strange noises resembling bubbling and clicking come from the baby monitor. Morgan, believing the sound to be aliens talking, climbs on the car roof to get a better signal. He gets the family to join hands with him to boost the signal, but the noises soon go away.
Signs is a 2002 American science fiction horror film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and executive produced by Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Sam Mercer. A joint collective effort to commit to the film’s production was made by Blinding Edge Pictures and The Kennedy / Marshall Company. It was commercially distributed by Touchstone Pictures theatrically, and by Touchstone Home Entertainment in home media format.
Its story focuses on a former Episcopal priest named Graham Hess, played by Mel Gibson, who discovers a series of crop circles in his cornfield. Hess slowly discovers that the phenomena are a result of extraterrestrial life. It also stars Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin. Signs explores faith, kinship, and extraterrestrials.
Signs (2002)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Cherry Jones, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Merritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty, Marion McCorry
Screenplay by: M. Night Shyamalan
Production Design by: Larry Fulton
Cinematography by: Tak Fujimoto
Costume Design by: Ann Roth
Set Decoration by: Douglas A. Mowat
Art Direction by: Keith P. Cunningham
Makeup Department: Bernadette Mazur, Francesca Paris
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some frightening moments.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: August 2, 2002
Visits: 152
