Signs (2002)
76%RT Audience Score: 67%
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 34 nominations
With Signs, Shyamalan proves once again an expert at building suspense and giving audiences the chills
If you’re looking for a movie that will make you jump out of your seat, Signs is the one for you. With aliens, suspense, and a creepy basement scene that will have you covering your eyes, this movie is a classic in the making. Sure, some critics might say it’s confusing or that the director is trying too hard to make a statement, but who cares? Just sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride. And if you’re feeling brave, maybe even watch it alone in the dark.
Production Company(ies)
FX Sound Industrias Audiovisuales Argentinas S.A.J.Z. & Asociados
Distributor
Touchstone Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for some frightening moments
Year of Release
2002
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):English, Portuguese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 2, 2002 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 19, 2003
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller/Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Cherry Jones, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Kalember, directed by M Night Shyamalan, written by M Night Shyamalan, produced by M Night Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer, Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi, PG-13, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Joshua Rothkopf, Namrata Joshi, Chris Stuckmann, Nell Minow, Hank Sartin, Derek Adams, actor performances, James Newton Howard’s score, crop signs, aliens, family drama, psychological thriller, atmospheric minimalism, Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital, Touchstone Pictures, Flat (1.85:1)
Worldwide gross: $408,247,917
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $677,104,719
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 184
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 73,839,119
US/Canada gross: $227,966,634
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $378,096,929
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 130
US/Canada opening weekend: $60,117,080
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $99,707,939
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 81
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $72,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $119,416,506
Production budget ranking: 309
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $64,305,788
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $493,382,425
ROI to date (est.): 269%
ROI ranking: 505
Joaquin Phoenix – Merrill Hess
Cherry Jones – Officer Paski
Rory Culkin – Morgan Hess
Abigail Breslin – Bo Hess
Patricia Kalember – Colleen Hess
M. Night Shyamalan – Director/Writer/Producer
Frank Marshall – Producer
Sam Mercer – Producer
Director(s)
M. Night Shyamalan
Writer(s)
M. Night Shyamalan
Producer(s)
M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 34 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (236) | Top Critics (54) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (61)
Signs is a tense experience; even the opening credits lunge at your throat with orchestral shrieks. It may one day reveal itself as a minor classic, a new Invasion of the Body Snatchers for the manufactured scare of its day.
March 16, 2020
Joshua Rothkopf
In These Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s the content that’s to blame. Signs works on a confused storyboard. What’s Shyamalan trying to say anyways? Nothing, or rather a bit too much.
January 3, 2019 | Rating: 2/4
Namrata Joshi
Outlook
TOP CRITIC
Signs was the film that sparked the desire that led to the purchase of a camera, many short films, and a love of movies that hasn’t left me to this day.
April 17, 2015 | Rating: A+
Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
Excellent, but has some extreme tension and peril.
December 28, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Individual sequences generate an eerie tension that’s always deflated, creating a jarring stop-and-go rhythm, and the atmospheric trickery never strays beyond a lot of smoke and mirrors.
June 6, 2007
Hank Sartin
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Shyamalan is technically a superb film-maker, for all that he’s picked up most of his tricks from Spielberg and Hitchcock.
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
A masterclass in creating tension, Shyamalan’s “Field of Screams”– given his later travails, predictability and sometimes laughable conceits – now, two decades on, seems like it was the high-water mark of his endeavours.
May 23, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
Be it supernatural, alien, or our own personal demons, Shamlyan gets it. Signs is subtle and yet terrifying.
November 12, 2021
Kristy Strouse
Wonderfully Weird and Horrifying
I’m a sucker for an effective scary movie that involves aliens and if you’re gonna tell me that you didn’t jump during that scene in the basement with the alien arm, I’m gonna call you a liar.
April 14, 2021
Jim Rohner
Battleship Pretension
A filmmaker who here has refined his forms to distill the very essence of his way of understanding cinema. [Full Review in Spanish]
April 17, 2020
Sergio Benítez
Espinof
An emotional, yet old-fashioned scary movie punctuated with terror and psychological suspense, Signs will have you holding your breath, biting your nails and sitting on the edge of your seat – even long after the film has ended.
November 16, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
Enthralled by his own genius and desire to make another blockbuster, Shyamalan has taken a terrific B-movie idea and inflated it into what he wants us to believe is a serious commentary on faith.
May 17, 2018
John Powers
L.A. Weekly…
Plot
Preacher Graham Hess loses his faith in God after his wife dies in a brutal car accident. He lives with his children and brother in a farmhouse. Crop circles start to appear in their cornfields; Graham dismisses them as mischief by miscreants. After hearing strange noises and watching news coverage on crop circles appearing all over the world, the family grows suspicious of alien activities. Now they must stick together as a family and believe, to survive and escape the ordeal.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Signs on Fresh Kernels.
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