M Night Shyamalan movies ranked worst to best according to fans
M Night Shyamalan has had a wide-ranging career as a director, and his films have been received as eclectically as one might expect.
The horror auteur will soon release a brand new film titled Trap, in true Shyamalan fashion little is known about the movie other than it is set at a concert that is a ruse to try and capture a serial killer (seemingly played by Josh Hartnett). Cooper, Hartnett's character, learns that the gig is a trap as it is happening, and it doesn't take long for chaos to descend.
Read more: Sixth Sense mastermind M. Night Shyamalan reveals his secret to surprising the audience(Yahoo Entertainment)
Before the new film lands in cinemas though, it feels only right to look back at the director's impressive filmography —both the good and the bad— to see what fans have thought of it over the years.
M Night Shyamalan movies ranked worst to best according to fans
Shyamalan has made a number of films since his debut in 1992, and is well known for using supernatural elements and plot twist endings to shock and amaze audiences. As well as movies, the director has turned to TV in recent years with his Apple TV+ series Servant earning an impressive 7.4 rating, however for this ranking only his movies will be counted.
14 | The Last Airbender (2010)
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Shyamalan film to rank lowest in his filmography is The Last Airbender. The director's adaptation of the Avatar animated series was a misfire on all accounts, from the casting to the CGI, to the execution of the story.
There's little to redeem the film except perhaps that it provided a low bar for Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series, and even the cast struggle to look fondly on the film now. So it stands to reason that viewers gave it a dismal 4.0 out of 10.
IMDb rating: 4.0
The Last Airbender is streaming on Paramount+.
13 | Praying With Anger (1992)
Shyamalan made his directorial debut with his student film Praying With Anger, he made it whilst still studying at NYU and it is a semi-autobiographical about Indian American Dev Raman (Shyamalan) who returns to India and reckons with the clash between his Western values and those in India.
The film didn't receive a wide release and was mostly shown at film festivals so it seems unlikely that many people have watched the film. Those that have didn't rate it highly on IMDb as it did little better than The Last Airbender with a rating of 4.5.
IMDb rating: 4.5
Praying With Anger is not available on streaming.
12 | After Earth (2013)
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Will Smith starred opposite his son Jaden in After Earth, a sci-fi film about a father and son who crash land on an abandoned Earth and must contend with the creatures that have grown there in the abscence of humanity. The film was universally panned by critics with some calling it dull and others describing it as a "big screen vanity project", ouch.
Viewers felt much the same about the film as it only has 4.8 out of 10.
IMDb rating: 4.8
After Earth is streaming on NOW with a Sky Cinema Membership.
11 | The Happening (2008)
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Another of Shyamalan's films not to translate well onscreen is The Happening, a disaster movie in which mass suicides are being caused by... trees? Yes, really.
The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo as characters trying to reckon with the mysterious happening. The film may have been critically panned but it was a box office success thanks to Shyamalan and his cast, but it's perhaps not the most convincing of the director's twists.
IMDb rating: 5.0
The Happening is streaming on Disney+.
10 | Lady in the Water (2006)
Shyamalan turned his hand to fantasy for Lady in the Water, which stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti. The film follows a superintendent (Giamatti) who discovers a water nymph (Dallas Howard) in a pool and must help her evade a mystical creature known as a Scrunt.
The film earned a number of Razzie nominations and was a box office flop, as well as a critical failure. Over on IMDb it earned a lacklustre 5.5 out of 10.
IMDb rating: 5.5
Lady in the Water is available to rent on Sky and Prime Video.
8= | Wide Awake (1998)
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Shymalan's second feature film was another cry away from what we know him for, as Wide Awake was a comedy drama rather than a horror film. Starring Dave Cross and Rosie O'Donnell the film follows a ten-year-old's search for the meaning of life and death after the passing of his grandfather.
The film had a difficult journey to cinemas as a result of Harvey Weinstein burying the film after Shyamalan and O'Donnell confronted him about his intentions to recut the film. In the end the film did get a limited theatrical release, but those who have seen it were not impressed as it received middling reviews from critics and only a score of 5.8 on IMDb.
IMDb rating: 5.8
Wide Awake is available to rent on Prime Video.
8= | Old (2021)
The director has enjoyed something of a career resurgence in recent years after a slew of poorly-received films, and part of the Shyamalanassaince —if you will— is his 2021 film Old. The body horror thriller follows a group of people who find themselves aging rapidly when they're on a secluded beach.
Old has an impressive cast from Gael Garcia Bernal to Rufus Sewell, Thomasin McKenzie and Alex Wolff amongst others. The film was a box office success, which is especially impressive given it was released amid the Covid pandemic, but it only has a middling rating amongst IMDb viewers.
IMDb rating: 5.8
Old is available to rent on Sky and Prime Video.
7 | Knock at the Cabin (2023)
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Rupert Grint and Shyamalan have a great working relationship after working together in Servant, and they continued their collaboration with Knock at the Cabin. The psychological horror film also stars Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge and Nikki Amuka-Bird amongst others.
Set in a remote cabin, the film centres on a family who find themselves targeted by four strangers and they must do all that they can to survive the ordeal. The film was received well by critics and was also a box office success, though ultimately it lands in the middle of Shyamalan's filmography for fans.
IMDb rating: 6.1
Knock at the Cabin is streaming on NOW with a Sky Cinema Membership.
6 | The Visit (2015)
Shyamalan's career resurgence began with The Visit, which saw the director return to his horror roots for a found footage thriller. The movie focuses on siblings Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and tyler (Ed Oxenbould) as their visit to their grandparents house soon descends into a nightmarish ordeal.
The movie also stars Kathryn Hahn, Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie, and was a huge critical success for Shyamalan, earning $98.5m worldwide. In terms of fan response, the film has a respectable 6.3 out of 10 on IMDb.
IMDb rating: 6.3
The Visit is available to rent on Sky and Prime Video.
4= | Glass (2019)
It came as a surprise to viewers when Shyamalan secretly made a sequel to Unbreakable with Split, and he completed his superhero story with the trilogy closer Glass.
Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson returned as David Dunn and Elija Price respectively, while James McAvoy also came back as Kevin Wendell Crumb. Although it's not as well received as its predecessors, Glass has done relatively well with viewers who gave it 6.6 out of 10.
IMDb rating: 6.6
Glass is streaming on Disney+.
4= | Signs (2002)
The filmmaker followed up his two biggest hits, The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, with Signs a sci-fi horror film that was both a critical and a commercial success.
Starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, the film focuses on a priest who discovers crop circles in his field which are the result of extraterrestrial life. What follows is terrifying alien invasion movie that traumatised a generation, and while it is heralded as one of Shyamalan's best it only has a reasonable rating of 6.6 from fans.
IMDb rating: 6.6
Signs is streaming on Disney+.
2= | Split (2016)
Shyamalan's big comeback is arguably 2016 psychological horror film Split, which saw McAvoy originate the role of Kevin Wendell Crumb — a man with 24 different personalities who kidnaps teen Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy). As always, the director loves a twist and for Split this came when it was revealed in the final moments of the film to be a "stealth sequel" to Unbreakable.
The film was a huge success, and was Blumhouse's highest grossing film until 2023's Five Nights at Freddy's, and it is also one of the director's best loved works amongst fans who rated in 7.3 out of 10.
IMDb rating: 7.3
Split is available to rent on Sky and Prime Video.
2= | Unbreakable (2000)
Also receiving a 7.3 rating from viewers is Unbreakable, the 2000 Shyamalan hit that inspired Split and Glass. The superhero film introduced the world to Willis and Jackson's David Dunn and Elijah Price, and was celebrated by cinephiles for its grounded portrayal of superheroes.
Not only is it seen as one of Shyamalan's best films amongst fans, it's also been celebrated by his peers in the film industry — Quentin Tarantino, for example, named the film as one of top 20 films of all time.
IMDb rating: 7.3
Unbreakable is streaming on Disney+.
1 | The Sixth Sense (1999)
The filmmaker's best loved film is, of course, The Sixth Sense. The psychological thriller stars Willis as child psychologist Malcolm Crowe whose patient Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) claims to see the dead.
It is without a doubt Shyamalan's most successful work, earning him Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Oiriginal Screenplay as well as acting nominations for Osment and Toni Collette. The Sixth Sense established the filmmaker as one of Hollywood's brightest stars, and cemented his style as a horror filmmaker with a love for twist endings.
There's little not to love about The Sixth Sense, and though the plot twist has become such a pop culture moment in its own right it might not surprise it is still a phenomenal movie — so it stands to reason it has the highest rating of all of Shyamalan's movies on IMDb.
IMDb rating: 8.2
The Sixth Sense is streaming on Disney+.
