M. Night Shyamalan shares a behind-the-scenes image of himself and his daughters to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Unbreakable’s release. Shyamalan burst onto the scene with his directorial debut, The Sixth Sense. Starring Bruce Willis, the movie featured a shock twist ending (a Shyamalan trademark), which is still considered one of the best in movie history. Unbreakable reteamed the director with Willis and added Samuel L. Jackson to the mix, portraying Elijah Price, a man who is convinced a superhuman exists since he sees himself as a physically fragile supervillain.
The movie was considered a disappointing follow-up to The Sixth Sense, with critics and audiences criticizing Shyamalan for relying on plot twists over substance in the film. It has since been re-evaluated, though, as a great superhero origin story. Shyamalan added a reference to Unbreakable at the end of Split by including Willis’ David Dunn in a post-credits scene. That led to Glass, which featured Willis, Jackson, and Split stars James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. Shyamalan has since dubbed the franchise the Eastrail 177 Trilogy.
Now, Shyamalan has celebrated the 20th anniversary of Unbreakable’s release (November 22, 2000) with a throwback photo on Twitter. The image shows Shyamalan sitting on the set of the movie with two of his daughters. The caption reveals the oldest daughter is now a musician, and the baby in his arms just finished directing two season 2 episodes of Shyamalan’s Apple TV+ series Servant. It’s enough to make anyone who can remember the movie’s cinema release feel incredibly old. You can see the tweet below:
Not only does the post serve as a reminder of Shyamalan’s long career, but it’s also a de facto announcement of his daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut as a TV director. She is also serving as a Second Unit Director on Shyamalan’s upcoming movie Old, an adaptation of French graphic novel Sandcastle, by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. Aside from that news, it’s a reminder of the staying power of the movie. Even now, two decades later, it stands up to repeated viewings, despite its critical mauling, and is arguably even more relevant now thanks to the popularity of the superhero genre in general.
It’s also a reminder of Shyalaman’s maddening inconsistency. While Unbreakable and Split are both great movies, Glass is a confusing and nonsensical movie. It’s a problem that has plagued Shyamalan throughout his career, with hits like The Sixth Sense being undermined by silly movies like The Village and The Lady in the Water, which seem to exist for the sole purpose of thrusting twists on audiences. Hopefully, Old, Shyamalan’s forthcoming effort falls into the excellent category, rather than the bad.
