But that would just sorta raise the question of why she can't just, y'know, forbid her daughter from going rock climbing that day? I think the idea of inoperable cancer was that it was inevitable no matter what anyone did. But that's my problem with this sort of time travel/predestination story - they start falling apart pretty quickly once you start asking questions.

I think the point is that the predestination part doesn't even really matter in this specific case. The woman either accepted that evens couldn't be changed, or more plausibly, just decided to let things play out the way she saw in her visions because maybe she's selfish and wanted to fall in love and wanted to be with her daughter even if her daughter DID get incurable cancer. Her husband thinking that's fucked up, presumably also assuming it would be possible for her to choose other than that life, is also a position we can empathize with. I think it did a great job of humanizing both positions. I mean, do we also criticize people in fucking awful living conditions for having kids? Maybe some of us do, but it's not exactly universal. The drive to have kids is really strong for many people, and I can absolutely understand how that would be amplified by a longing for a child you, in your special experience, have already known and loved and who you miss horribly.

decided to attempt to recreate the same future she saw in her predestination visions.

for her visions to make any sense she must enact them, otherwise it becomes null and void. Then the whole "fate vs. free will" debate reignites.

Right, it would've made a lot more sense if she also had visions of a life where she didn't have her daughter, and saw herself as being unhappy or unfulfilled or whatever.

Like, really, the "twist" is that this takes place in the same universe as Unbreakable... it's not a twist if you just withhold one random part of the story's universe from the viewers. At least he was able to pay Bruce Willis to come back I guess.

Kevin slowly stands up on the train as the newly-formed Beast while that awesome string melody swells was super-cool. Actually the whole soundtrack was a great blend of creepy industrial noises and dramatic orchestral bits.

The psychiatrist's dialogue just sounded clunky and I had a hard time taking her seriously - her attempt at sounding shocked when she finds the girls in his cellar sounded ridiculous. And how often is MNS going to use the "character flashes back during the climax to some important skill/memory" thing - Remember the baseball bat thing at the end of Signs? But on the whole I'm legitimately interested in the sequel he's apparently already working on. Seeing Bruce Willis and McAvoy square off would be ridiculous fun.

That was just his problem in all his movies - just boring, clunky dialogue, made worse this time because that actress was just not interesting at all. Every scene with her was just terrible filler and all her lines were both written and delivered poorly. Some of the other characters had the problem too, where their conversations felt ancillary to the entire rest of the movie - a common problem of his.

I would actually enjoy seeing Bruce Willis fight McAvoy's character, I admit. I hate that I actually want to see anything from Shyamalan.

rapey

Yeah all the creep shots of characters who are supposed to be teenagers was a little off-putting.

Yeah, I agree, but I think it was supposed to be unsettling. Doesn't make the various half-naked shots, rape suggestions, and the apparent sexual abuse of young Casey make it any easier, haha.