Guide Note

The Village is a 2004 dramatic thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan wrote and directed other fantastical thrillers such as The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2004).

Story

The Village is set in a small American town in the early 1900s, where life is peaceful, serene and utopias—except for one brooding threat: everyone in the village lives in fear of beasts that come out of the woods, referred to as “Those We Don't Speak Of.” When town residents Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) and the blind daughter of an Elder Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) arrange to get married, a mentally disabled friend of Ivy's named Noah (Adrien Brody) mortally wounds Hunt out of jealousy. Walker, though she is blind, vows to travel through the forest, escape the trappings of the monsters and reach an outside village to retrieve medicine for Hunt.

Fast Facts

1. Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Adrien Brody
2. Director: M. Night Shyamalan
3. Producers: Sam Mercer, Scott Rudin, and M. Night Shyamalan
4. Released: July 30, 2004
5. MWAA Rating: PG-13
6. Run time: 108 mins
7. Budget: 71.6 million