M. Night Shyamalan’s Best Movie Came From Denny’s Breakfast
M. Night Shyamalan said he got the idea for how to take his movie Signs after sitting in a Denny's restaurant having breakfast.
M. Night Shyamalan is one of the world’s most well-known filmmakers. He’s one of those guys where folks either love his movies or can’t stand them, with very little in between. And those twist endings have generated heated debates over the years. While the writer/director is infamous for the plot twists that are featured in all his films, some may argue that his secret weapon is actually compassion. According to SlashFilm, it’s a gift that led M. Night Shyamalan to the inspiration for his best movie, Signs, while eating at a Denny’s.
As a young filmmaker, M. Night Shyamalan broke into Hollywood with several films in the mid-1990s before coming up with the idea for Signs, which was released in 2002. He released Praying with Anger in 1992 and Wide Awake in 1998 (neither of which gained him much attention) before premiering what would become his first major film, The Sixth Sense in 1999, which earned him two Academy Award nominations—one for Best Director, and the other for Best Original Screenplay. After achieving the mega success that came with the $672.8 million box office smash, the director faced defeat with his next movie, Unbreakable, which was not even close to the hit that The Sixth Sense had been.
Apparently, he was contemplating the differences between The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable while sitting at a table at Denny’s. And the auteur reflected that his attitude at the time of filming might have had something to do with the discrepancies in how audiences reacted to the two films. He noticed that there was a certain heaviness to Unbreakable that came off due to the gloom he felt while filming. While looking around at the other patrons at the diner, the director noticed a certain similar dismay about the other customers and decided that his movies could change that. It sparked M. Night Shyamalan’s idea for Signs.
The director remembered seeing two separate tables eating in total silence—one family and one couple. The sadness that Shyamalan felt watching the diner’s patrons inspired him to make a movie that could help cheer them up, despite how heavy and somber movies felt more true to the director at the time. The result was the birth of M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, a much lighter, funnier, but still thrilling film that is often regarded as the director’s best movie.
Starring Mel Gibson, M. Night Shyamalan’s fifth film, Signs, documents the journey one farmer takes as he investigates a mysterious message left as symbols in his crops. It’s a story about a man protecting his family—his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and two kids (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin)—from an alien invasion. As has become the director’s calling cards, the film is full of suspense, thrill, and plenty of scary moments. But between those beats, the movie also boasts funny lines of dialog, clever visual gags, and, most importantly, the director ended the film with a message of hope.
When reflecting on making the movie, M. Night Shyamalan said that Signs was fun and made him feel as though he made the right career choice to be a filmmaker rather than a doctor. He borrowed characteristics from his own family and friends to form the characters and made sure only to write when he was in a positive mood. It all helped lighten the mood overall so the director could deliver a film that was both scary and uplifting at the same time.
