M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village has evolved into a true American classic, a film that only improves with time. What sets it apart is not just its masterful craftsmanship in atmosphere, style, and character development, but also its deeply rooted American themes. It’s a film that is both visually stunning and thematically profound, offering a rich commentary on fear, isolation, and the American psyche.

A Cinematic Masterpiece: Visuals and Sound
A Film That Feels Like a Painting
One of the most striking aspects of The Village is its painterly quality. Unlike many films that anchor the audience to a single protagonist’s perspective, The Village immerses viewers into the world itself, making them feel like another villager, observing the unfolding events from an omniscient yet intimate viewpoint.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins enhances this effect with slow zoom-outs, pulling away from close-ups to reveal the characters within their surroundings—a technique reminiscent of classic paintings. The natural lighting choices further emphasize this effect:
- Interiors are lit by windows or flames, creating an organic, timeless feel.
- Outdoor night scenes rely on oil lamps, adding to the rustic realism.
- The use of autumn light enhances the film’s haunting, melancholic atmosphere.
This careful attention to visual composition directly reflects the work of American painter Andrew Wyeth, whom Shyamalan cites as his primary influence: “Andrew was the main inspiration for the look of the movie. The grays, the minimalism, and the light—that’s all from Andrew.”*

Wyeth’s paintings (left) compared to scenes from Shyamalan’s The Village (right)
Like Wyeth’s paintings, The Village evokes a subdued, misty aesthetic that feels both eerie and poetic.
Building Atmosphere Through Sound
Beyond its breathtaking visual artistry, The Village masterfully uses sound design to deepen its atmosphere and heighten tension. Every auditory detail serves a purpose in storytelling, immersing the audience in the film’s unsettling world. Shyamalan expertly employs natural sounds to tap into primal human fears—the howling wind in Ivy’s terrifying journey through the forest adds a sense of vastness and isolation, while the creaking trees subtly unsettle the audience, especially when the young villagers test their courage at the forest’s edge. Through these soundscapes, Shyamalan proves that fear doesn’t always need a visible monster—sometimes, the suggestion of danger is more powerful than the danger itself.
To reinforce the film’s visual and acoustic cohesion, Shyamalan collaborated with composer James Newton Howard, making a bold and inspired choice: featuring renowned violinist Hilary Hahn as the centerpiece of the soundtrack. This decision was nothing short of brilliant. Hahn’s haunting, fragile violin solos act as the emotional core of the film, floating between sorrow and mystery. Often, her violin is the sole musical accompaniment, allowing its melancholic strains to evoke the village’s isolation, unease, and quiet beauty. The result? One of the greatest film scores of all time—a composition that is delicate, eerie, and emotionally resonant. The soundtrack’s complexity mirrors the ambition of the film itself, making it an integral part of The Village’s lasting impact.
Exploring Core American Themes in The Village
Back to Nature, Back to Innocence
The villagers’ way of life in The Village draws strong parallels to the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau (Walden) and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature), two of the most influential figures of American transcendentalism. These 19th-century thinkers mistrusted modern society, believing that humanity had lost touch with the purity of nature. They saw the natural world as something spiritual and untainted, offering wisdom and serenity that civilization often corrupts.
Shyamalan’s film embodies this idea: Walker, the village elder, creates an idealized world, one that is both romanticized and mythologized. The villagers view themselves as chosen people, existing in a state of preserved innocence, isolated from the chaos of the modern world. Their retreat into nature is not just a physical separation—it is a philosophical statement, an attempt to construct a utopia untouched by the failures of contemporary society.
Another major inspiration for the village’s structure is the Amish community, a deeply American phenomenon. Predominantly found in Pennsylvania, the Amish embrace a simplistic, agrarian lifestyle, deliberately distancing themselves from technological advancementsand modern influences. Their culture is built on strict family roles, communal values, and religious devotion, all of which are mirrored in Shyamalan’s fictional village.

However, The Village does not merely celebrate this form of isolation—it questions it. Shyamalan presents Christian-American fundamentalism as an ideal that can only survive through strict isolation, deliberate naivety, and the suppression of internal conflicts. As the story unfolds, this “New Jerusalem” begins to feel less like a natural order and more like an enclave of misplaced hope, frozen in time. The film subtly critiques the fragility of idealism, suggesting that no society, no matter how carefully constructed, can remain untouched by reality forever.
The Village as an Allegory for Post-9/11 America
Shyamalan has acknowledged that The Village was influenced by the fear that permeated the U.S. after 9/11: “After September 11, 2001, there was fear in the air everywhere. It’s still in the air, and we’re living in really scary times. I reacted as everyone else would—by putting my emotions on paper. And that gave rise to The Village.”
The film reflects how fear shapes societies, mirroring the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism policies and, later, the political climate of the Trump era. Walker, the village leader, manipulates fear to maintain control, just as political figures have historically done in response to external threats.
Yet, The Village is not merely a political commentary—it’s a study of fear itself. The film shows that isolation and repression can become just as dangerous as the external threats they aim to guard against. The village’s existence is built on a lie, but it is fear that sustains it.
Shyamalan masterfully critiques the use of fear as a unifying force—one that protects, but also traps.
Conclusion: A Lasting American Classic
With The Village, Shyamalan fully embraces the power of cinema—using visual poetry, masterful sound design, and deeply rooted themes to create a film that remains as relevant today as it was in 2004. More than just a brilliantly crafted thriller, The Village is a deeply American film, drawing inspiration from historical, philosophical, and contemporary fears. Its legacy has only grown stronger over time, solidifying its status as one of Shyamalan’s finest works and a true American classic.
*Shyamalan quoted in Conn, Steven: Metropolitan Philadelphia: Living with the Presence of the Past, 2006. P. 230.
Photos: flickr.com, curiator.com, commons.wikimedia.org