Unbreakable

Soon found out had a heart of glass.

It often gets forgotten just what an exciting talent M. Night Shyamalan was during the early part of his film making career. True that Unbreakable, with its deliberate slow pacing and left-field narrative, would (and has) proved to be not everyone's cup-o-tea, but there's a film making craft here, and a genius idea brought to vivid life, that makes a spectrum of film lovers lament how his career nose dived, how his ideas quickly got as stupid as his acting...

Unbreakable challenges the thought process, spinning a story that's of a adult comic book heart, but also of a clinical human examination. The narrative is consistently ambiguous, holding the patient viewers in enthral as the cosmic conundrums come tumbling off of the screen. It's refreshing to find a story like this that is so devoid of cliché, where the wonderfully reflective Bruce Willis and the brilliantly fascinating Samuel L. Jackson feed off each other, their character's destinies superbly steered by cast and director. Unbreakable is a complex movie, but not needlessly so, its strengths are numerous for those of a keen eye and ear. It represents Shyamalan's most clever cinematic offering, to which the sad realisation comes to pass that he would never, as yet, be this smart and vibrant again. 10/10

Not The Shamhammer's best, but certainly of the era when he was still making "good".

Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.

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What a movie! This is one of the most underrated films out there, and it was unfairly compared to The Sixth Sense at the time the former was released. These are two very different movies, but both of them have a lot of twists, which was what brought fame to Shyamalan's films, especially The Sixth Sense.

Unbreakable follows that same methodology. It has a lot of twists throughout the runtime, and they are quite diverse: some are very technical twists, related to our point of view of a particular scene that, as it progresses, we always find ourselves tricked (these ones, most people either don't catch them or just don't care ... For me, it's proof of brilliant writing); the others are the prominent plot twists, where something unpredictable happens to the overall story.

This movie has all of that and much more. The story itself is incredibly captivating since the main plot holds a lot of mystery and suspense, but these only work as well as they did thanks to Shyamalan, both director and screenwriter. His very unconventional way of storytelling and the anxiety that he's able to convey to some fantastic scenes, elevate the film while delivering a perfect narrative. It's even more mind-blowing the fact that this movie still makes so much sense and it didn't lose its replay value after 17 years!

In fact, I bet it would be a striking success nowadays, where the superhero genre is over-saturated. Each year, we get more and more movies following the excessively used genre's formula that makes almost every blockbuster an instant box office hit. Unbreakable is nowhere near that formula, and I genuinely think that any fan of comic-book films must watch this one so everyone can understand what a "grounded superhero movie" actually means. M. Night Shyamalan wrote a story that everyone can appreciate, without all of those big CGI fights and overwhelming visual effects. Comic-book fan or not, Unbreak...

one of the most underrated masterpieces in cinema history

Unbreakable! What a classic. M. Night Shyamalan really took the superhero genre and flipped it on its head with this one. It's such a slow-burn, introspective take on the idea of "What if superheroes were real, but grounded in reality?"

Bruce Willis as David Dunn is so understated but powerful in his performance. He just exudes this quiet strength, and his journey of self-discovery is handled so well. That scene where he's lifting weights in the basement? Iconic. It’s such a simple moment, but it’s brimming with meaning, like he’s finally starting to believe he might be more than just an ordinary man.

And then there’s Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, or “Mr. Glass.” Talk about a perfectly cast role. He brings this eerie, almost tragic depth to a character who’s obsessed with finding his opposite. The way Shyamalan builds up their dynamic, leading to that twist ending... I mean, come on, it’s such a Shyamalan twist, but it works so perfectly here.

The relationship between David Dunn and his son is one of the most heartfelt aspects of Unbreakable. It’s a quiet exploration of faith and trust between a father and son, with Joseph’s unwavering belief in his dad adding emotional weight to David’s journey. Their bond reflects the film’s deeper themes of self-discovery and the quiet strength found in family, making the story not just about extraordinary abilities, but also about the human connections that ground us. It’s these tender moments that give the film its emotional core, balancing the suspense with genuine heart.

What I love most about Unbreakable is how it plays with the idea of comic book tropes without ever feeling like a comic book movie. The cinematography, those long, deliberate takes, makes everything feel heavy and significant. And James Newton Howard’s score? Chills every time.