This weekend saw the release of the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie, Glass, in theaters. As is the case when any buzzworthy director has a new movie out, people are naming their favorite Shyamalan movie -- and that's not exclusive to the audience. Sarah Paulson told CinemaBlend's own Corey Chichizola that her favorite Shyamalan movie is Unbreakable, which is pretty fitting considering that she stars in its sequel.
Unbreakable is this beautiful meditation on loneliness. And really being an outsider, and denying your own inner voice. And what happens when you really step into what you're capable of. I just loved it. And it pre-dates all these Marvel movies. It was the first time it was really put out there as a metaphor of how we all live our lives, and the roles we take on in our lives. What we ascribe to ourselves, what we let ourselves be described by others.
Glass is the long-awaited sequel to Unbreakable, M. Night Shyamalan's 2000 superhero movie that starred Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie has since become a cult favorite and considered to be ahead of its time. Unbreakable was a very serious and grounded take on whether superheroes existed in the real world. Ultimately, it was a film about finding your place in the world, which makes it Sarah Paulson's favorite Shyamalan movie.
Sarah Paulson may not be able to say much about Glass because of spoilers, but she can say whatever she wants about Unbreakable. Paulson notes that Unbreakable is a beautiful look at loneliness and being an outsider. Bruce Willis' character David Dunn always considered himself ordinary and ignored the signs that he had abilities. He was denying that part of himself, but ultimately embraced himself and used his powers to help people.
The same is true for Elijah Price, Samuel L. Jackson's character, though, in a much more twisted way. Price realizes that he should be a supervillain and murder a bunch of people, but he had found what he felt was his role in life.
As Sarah Paulson points out, this pre-dates the current saga of Marvel movies. Unbreakable can definitely be considered ahead of its time in how it treated superheroes seriously. It even pre-dates The Dark Knight, which arguably popularized that level of thinking in comic book movies.
Time will tell if audiences are as favorable to Glass in 18 years. Glass caps the trilogy of Unbreakable and Split. The movie fell below its original $50-60 million expectations, but it's still expected to earn $47 million during the holiday weekend, when all is said and done. The reviews for the film have been mixed-to-negative, with critics pointing out a number of plot holes and what will surely be a divisive ending.
Glass is out in theaters right now, so head on over to your local theater if you'd like to spend some time with Mr. Glass during your holiday weekend.
