M. Night Shyamalan has had a rough go of it over the past few years. After his breakout success with The Sixth Sense in 1999, he hit what some believed to be a sophomore slump with Unbreakable in 2000. After Signs in 2002, he had a string of duds: The Village, Lady In The Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth. Many people thought the director had lost his touch, even to the point where audiences laughed at the screen when his name popped up on screen I’m happy to report that his newest effort, the darkly comedic horror film The Visit, is a return to form for the director and proof that he still knows how to shock audiences.

Rebecca and Tyler Jamison (Australian actors Olivia De Jonge and Ed Oxenbould) are spending the week with the grandparents they’ve never met (Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie) when their mother (Kathryn Hahn, Step Brothers) goes on a cruise with her new boyfriend. Things seem alright at first, but as the days go by strange things start happening. The children are warned not to come out of their room after 9:30pm, grandpa appears to be hiding something in the shed and grandma likes to walk around the house naked.

Shyamalan does a great job of building up the tension throughout The Visit’s 94-minute runtime. If I have one complaint with The Visit, it’s that the first act of the film to be a little slow, but the sense of dread that permeates the film is palpable. Dark comedy is abundant throughout the movie (prompting us to laugh with Shyamalan, rather than at him), which complements the tension extremely well, especially in the third act

A common problem with movies centered on children is either that the child actors aren’t very good (see: Sinister 2) or they are just plain annoying (see: The Purge). Luckily, this is not the case for the two children in The Visit. De Jonge and Oxenbould are incredibly strong actors and revelations in the film. Both of them hold your attention throughout the entire thing, and it’s quite impressive. Tyler spends most of the film cracking jokes, rapping and shouting female pop stars’ names to substitute curse words. All of these things could come off as annoying when performed by another actor, but Oxenbould makes it endearing.

The adult actors fare just as well. Dunagan and McRobbie are able to switch between comforting and unhinged so smoothly that they really keep you on your toes. Are they just mentally ill? Or is there something more sinister going on at the Jamison house? Hahn is serviceable in the role of the mother, but she doesn’t get much to do other than chat with her children via Skype.

Where The Visit really excels is in Shyamalan’s direction. Filmed mostly by the kids’ cameras (they are making a documentary of their visit), Shyamalan makes every angle feel authentic. Nothing feels staged like so many found footage films can. The fact that you know Rebecca and Tyler are editing the footage and shooting a documentary aids in the suspension of disbelief when it comes to the whole “why are they still filming this” conundrum so many found footage films find themselves in.

The less you know going into The Visit, the more you will enjoy the film. Trust me when I tell you not to seek out spoilers of any kind. Don’t even try to find out whether or not there’s a twist. If you go in either a) knowing to expect a twist or b) knowing there isn’t one, it will hinder your enjoyment of the film. It is definitely a movie you want to see in a packed theater. At my screening, the audience reactions were priceless.

I have no doubt that The Visit will polarize viewers. It is definitely a love it or hate it film, but The Visit is one hell of a comeback for M. Night Shyamalan and his best film since The Sixth Sense. He is clearly better with films of a small scale, and it shows here. If you’ve felt burned by Shyamalan over the past ten years, put your skepticism aside and take a chance on The Visit. It’s well worth your time.