InSigns, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and released in 2002, Joaquin Phoenix plays Merrill Hess. He’s the younger brother of the film’s main protagonist (Graham Hess played by Mel Gibson) and uncle to Morgan and Bo Hess (played by Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin respectively). He’s not the main character inSigns, but he is a key family member at the center of an apocalyptic nightmare. And even though he’s an unassuming country boy who works a blue-collar job, he’s also a world record holder.
As a minor league baseball player, Merrill is legendary for hitting a 507-yard home run. But that’s not all. Over his sports career, he broke four more world records for excellence. So why didn’t he ever make it to the Big Leagues? Well, Merrill holds a sixth world record, one he’s not so proud of. During his stint in the minors, he accumulated more strikeouts than any two other players combined.
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As town slacker Lionel Prichard explains, Merrill would swing at anything. It didn’t matter what the coaches told him, what inning it was, or how many players were on base. “He’d whip that bat as hard as he could. He looked like a lumberjack chopping down a tree!” When asked why he took such an undisciplined approach to the sport, Merrill replies simply, “It felt wrong not to swing.” Of course, one of the big twists inSignsis that Merrill’s batting abilities ultimately help to save the day. Still,Phoenix’s character is more than a Dues Ex Machinaor a simple foil to Mel Gibson’s nihilistic Graham. In fact, Merrill Hess can be seen as a metaphor for M. Night Shyamalan’s entire approach to filmmaking.
Substitute filmmaking for baseball, and Merrill Hess’s backstory becomes a perfect analogy for Shyamalan’s career and his approach to cinema. His feature film debut,The Sixth Sense(released in 1999) was a record-breaking home run, one that established the then up-and-comer as a force to be reckoned with. Shyamalan’s second and third offerings,UnbreakableandSignsrespectively, weren’t quite as impressive, but they were spectacular feats nonetheless. Indeed, there are few filmmakers whose first three offerings were as widely hailed. Shyamalan built a reputation for packing suspenseful scripts with emotional genuine characters and truly creative twists. He was a risk-taker, and Shyamalan swung for the fences with every turn at bat.
Of course, like Merrill, not all of Shyamalan’s offerings are notable for positive reasons. While his fourth feature film,The Villagewas hardly a dud, the filmmaker definitely entered a slump, one that lasted the best part of a decade.Lady in the Water, released in 2006, wasn’t a terrible film objectively; it merely paled in comparison to Shyamalan’s previous offerings. Of course,Lady in the Waterwas followed by a trio of embarrassing strikeouts: The often-mockedThe Happeningin 2008,a lackluster adaptation ofThe Last Airbenderin 2010, and the Will Smith vanity projectAfter Earthin 2013. These three movies weren’t just critical and financial disappointments, they were considered by many to be colossal failures.
Still, Shyamalan’s failures wouldn’t be regarded as colossal were it not for the fact that his efforts are always gargantuan. Like Merrill at the bat, Shyamalan always swings for the fences. It’s “go big or go home” all the way. Even if he’s holding a mediocre script, he gives it his all. Even if his actors are lost, he pushes them forward. Even if his films overflow with mystery and symbolism, Shyamalan can’t seem to let a single potential good idea go to waste. Simply put, for Shyamalan, it’s not worth stepping up to the plate unless you’re going for the gold. There’s no bunting for a base hit, no sacrifice fly to bring home a runner on third, no playing it safe in the 9th inning.
It’s easy to imagine Shyamalan giving Merrill’s same explanation for both his successes and failure. “It felt wrong not to swing.” It’s a bold approach. Like Merrill, Shyamalan probably has twice as many potentially career-ending “strikeouts” as any other major player in Hollywood. But they haven’t knocked him out of the game. Like Merrill, Shyamalan is poised to “swing away” when the time is right, and everything falls into perfect alignment. And just like Merrill saved the day after a career slump, Shyamalan bounced back into prominence in the 2010s.The Visit(released in 2015) was a bare-bones shocker that proved big twists didn’t need to be supernatural to be powerful.Splitwas unstoppable in 2016, and2019’sGlasswas an unexpected sequel to 2000sUnbreakable.Old, released in 2021, isn’t a perfect film, but it’s worlds above Shyamalan’s worst.
Merrill’s insistence on swinging for the fences every time he steps up to the plate isn’t the only thing that makes the character an apropos metaphor for Shyamalan the filmmaker. There are other poignant moments throughoutSignsthat connect the character to the creator. When the threat of an alien invasion looms, Merrill and Graham discuss the unprecedented implications. Either humanity is doomed, or a higher power is protecting us. While Mel Gibson’s character is trapped in nihilism, Phoenix’s character retains his optimism. He believes in miracles. Shyamalan shares this outlook when it comes to filmmaking. He doesn’t see the process as an exercise in futility; rather, Shyamalan approaches filmmaking as a semi-magical endeavor—even while facing ominous obstacles.
Merrill Hess is a grown man, but he experiences the world through a childlike lens of mystery and wonder. He dons a tinfoil hat, just like his young niece and nephew, in an effort to keep the aliens from reading his mind. It’s not something you would expect an adult to do, but Merrill’s actions are genuine. Later, when he’s watching the footage of an extraterrestrial, he acts like a child. He loses his cool and yells at the television set. When he sees the creature, he nearly falls over.
Like Merrill, Shyamalan is still keenly tuned in to this sense of childlike wonder—and childlike terror. He’s an adult filmmaker with the uncanny ability to make other adults feel like children again. It’s what makes Shyamalan such an important visionary. It’s what gives each of his films such amazing potential and why his filmography will always lean more heavily toward his successes. And speaking of successes, Shyamalan’s latest effort,Knock at the Cabin, is making bank at the box office—despite mixed critical responses. It’s proof that anything he releases will be seen and, at some level, appreciated.
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