Director M. Night Shyamalan recently described an interesting viewer response to his 2006 film Lady in the Water.
Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment, the director discussed two very different perspectives on the Bryce Dallas Howard-starring fantastical psychological thriller. While the film is known for its poor box office performance and widespread critical derision, the director claims it currently enjoys a cult-like status that almost goes too far. "But you know, Lady in the Water is my least-seen film and my most resonant film. That is the film that causes religion with everyone. … People that are on their deathbeds watch it over and over and have sent me [notes saying], ‘We keep watching Lady In the Water over and over.’ It’s religion to people. When the fans come up on that one, it’s cult-like. So it’s a very interesting audience movie."
The supernatural ordeal of Lady in the Water takes place in a seemingly ordinary Philadelphia apartment complex, where its superintendent, Cleveland (Paul Giamatti), investigates sightings of a mysterious nymph-like woman named Story (Howard) at the swimming pool he maintains in his daily duties. However, she is actually a character from a child's bedtime tale who's trying to find her way back home. Thus, he and the building's eclectic tenants aid the eponymous lady while fighting off fantastical creatures. The story failed to resonate with audiences and the film only grossed $72.8 million worldwide against a $70 million budget. Its hopes would sink from the start, opening in a distant third at the box office, in the blockbuster shadow of the Disney sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Lady in the Water's Unlikely Cult Following
Shyamalan elaborated on the film's merits and unsung enthusiasts with some intriguing metaphors. "Lady in the Water is a jazz film," he said. "It was loved by audiences. It was one of my highest CinemaScore movies. Audiences loved it. There were standing ovations in the theaters," he explained. "It’s a very quirky kind of audience-friendly movie. It’s lack of carapace, lack of shield with regard to the perception of those that frame the art for the rest of the world. … And their relationship to me and the art is very unusual, and I don’t even want to ever speak on that subject about what [critics] think about me or whatever, that’s totally up to them and I’m just going to keep making movies every single time."
Additionally, despite the film's lack of critical and financial success, the director considers Lady in the Water a creative key point in his career. "It was the only movie I lost money on, by the way. It was the one movie where I said, ‘I’m not going to think about how to sell it, what lines will we sell it on? What is the genre?’ It was just a floating kind of fantasy childlike movie that had creepiness to it. And it was a very challenging movie to sell at the end of the day," Shyamalan concluded.
While the director may claim some people view the film as a religion and that "audiences loved it," that positivity wasn't reflected in the industry's response to Lady in the Water. Besides its aforementioned box office failure, critics largely panned the picture, which went on to be nominated for Worst Picture at the Golden Raspberry Awards. Indeed, Shyamalan actually won the Razzie for Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor for the film.
Lady in the Water is available to rent through Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment