It’s the year 2002. When it comes to alien invasions from Hollywood, film fans primarily think of special effects spectacles like Independence Day. Then comes Signs. Director M. Night Shyamalan previously brought the quiet genre films The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable to theaters. His sci-fi alien horror is also as quiet as a forest lake – and that’s exactly where it gets its extraordinary thrill, which erupts in a legendary shock scene. You can stream Signs with a Disney+ subscription*.
Find out in this article what the film is about, which momentous scene still gives gasps and goosebumps today and why Signs is one of the best sci-fi films of the current millennium.
What is the plot of Signs?
After the death of his wife, former pastor Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) lives on a secluded farm in the USA with his two children Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin) and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix). One day he discovers a huge crop circle in his corn field. At the same time, reports of various mysterious events are piling up. The media is running hot with reports of alien sightings. What do the signs mean? Is the world on the verge of an alien invasion?
Brilliant moment of shock in Signs: It’s about this scene
Warning, spoilers: Uncertainty prevailed for a long time. The crop circles could also be pranks by neighbors and the reports on television seem hysterical on closer inspection. There is no clear evidence of an alien invasion on Earth. Then a shaky home video of a child’s birthday party surfaced, which made the news. Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) watches it. Here you can see the scene:
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The camera films a simple hedge for an agonizingly long time. The dark green alien silhouette flashes and the moment is over again. Chaos breaks out at the party, and pure horror is written on Merrill’s face.
Why is Signs one of the best sci movies of the last 25 years?
It is an incredibly effective scene with a great importance in the current affairs of the time. As a reminder, Signs was released in 2002, exactly 1 year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Most Americans experienced the attack on the World Trade Center just like Merrill and his family did: in shaky television pictures, from a distance. The result: A vague yet immediate fear. Signs captures exactly this feeling.
In our ranking of the best science fiction films since 2000, Signs made it to number 41. This was our reasoning:
Perhaps Signs was a little ahead of its time. The whispery invasion thriller had a hard time of it in an era when cinema dabbled in newfound special effects paradise. M. Night Shyamalan relocated the alien invasion to a rural, isolated setting that’s only gradually encroaching on tiny tube TVs, the extraterrestrial threat creeps in. Family man Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) becomes the prepper who was taken by surprise, the cellar the last refuge and the baseball bat the weapon of mass destruction.
You can stream Signs with a Disney+ subscription. The running time is 106 minutes and the age rating (FSK) is 12 years.
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