The Hand of Fate

Hands down, my favorite M. Night Shyamalan movie is Signs. The humor, the humanity, and the early fall scenery of Pennsylvania (my home state) just get me every time; it’s a film I find myself returning to every single autumn. Beyond the visuals, the soundtrack by composer James Newton Howard is nothing short of a masterpiece—especially the final sequence, “The Hand of Fate (Parts 1 and 2).”

M. Night is a minimalist by nature who favors lean filmmaking. He famously (and begrudgingly) had to use CGI in Signs, and he…