Will M. Night Shyamalan Return to Form with his New Film Remain?

M. Night Shyamalan has had a bit of a rough start with his films. He returned back to Hollywood with Split, that was a very strong start to his return. Then he quickly went downhill, his films carrying loads of problems. The dialogue was strange, and I felt that he was constantly trying to one up every twist from the previous film. His recent film called Trap had a lot of potential, but the story direction was plain weird, and I'm not sure why the director felt the need to have his daughter be the main character, who really didn't give out a believable acting performance. I also didn't understand why she even went home with the killer's family...the plot was just terrible.

It was a shame that movie failed, because the actor who was given the serial killer's part could have worked, but the dialogue wasn't working here.

I just think Shyamalan has been experiencing some form of writer's block. I still consider his movie Signs to be one of the most interesting films ever made; due to the original alien storyline we get in this film. The idea of a family who lives in the middle of nowhere experiencing scary moments of aliens invading their world was a genius plot, and it was the perfect slow build.

I believe that Shyamalan has the potential to go back to his old roots, and after watching the trailer to Remain, I think this could be it. Remain is definitely an intriguing trailer, that leaves me with more questions than answers. The trailer does give away quite a bit, but it really doesn't matter, because I'm still lost with the mystery behind what this film could be about.

Plus, we get a very interesting team up here with the making of the film. Shyamalan did a collaboration with Nicholas Sparks, who is a bestselling romance writer. This is a very surprising duo here for the making of this film, and this movie is apparently based on a book that Sparks wrote and published in 2025. If Shyamalan teamed up with someone who actually wrote the story, than perhaps this movie has the potential to be good?

It's smart to work together with the person behind the story, and perhaps Shyamalan provided his own style of filmmaking to make the movie in his own image.

I do have my own theory as to what this movie could be about.

From the beginning of the trailer, we get what could be a loving couple, but for some reason, they can't be together. The man starts to experience strange phenomenon with his girlfriend acting pretty creepy, including moments of realizing that he is somewhere else entirely. It looks like he is stuck in an asylum, but who knows how he got here?

My theory is that the man could be stuck in some kind of purgatory or even trapped in another world. The woman could maybe not be real, and he is stuck trying to figure out how he ended up in this realm, as he finds a way to escape. The asylum rooms throughout the house could mean that reality is breaking through, and the man is freaking out, slowly trying to remember where he actually is.

I cannot predict who the woman is at all, but she does hold some kind of connection with the main character.

Whoever she is, it could either spell doom for the main character, or maybe she is trying to help him in some way.

I'm very interested in checking out Remain, it looks like it could be an original story, so I hope this is Shyamalan's chance to go back to his old school filmmaking days.

What do you think Remain is about?

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn