Signs (2002)

Film and Plot Synopsis

M. Night Shyamalan brings his next horror suspense film to the big screen. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former Episcopal priest who has lost his faith after his wife is killed in a horrible traffic accident. Now faced with raising two children with the help of his brother, Graham encounters greater difficulty when mysterious crop circles begin appearing in his corn field. Suddenly, evidence of extra-terrestrial life begins appearing around the world. The question is, is this a sign of next step in human history or a sign of the end of the world?

‘Signs’ Movie Summary

Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former Episcopal priest who lives on a rural farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Graham lives with his asthmatic son Morgan (Rory Culkin), his young daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin), and his adult younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix). Merrill is a failed minor league baseball player who couldn’t keep himself from swinging at most pitches. Merrill moved in with his brother when Graham’s wife Colleen (Patricia Kalember) was killed in a traffic accident six months earlier. After the accident, Graham left the service of the church in a crisis of faith.

As the film opens, mysterious crop circles begin appearing in Graham’s cornfield without explanation. Graham and Merrill begin speculating that it is vandals, likely teenagers committing pranks. However, other crop circles begin to appear around the world, and not long after, mysterious lights from invisible objects begin appearing over the skies of many of the cities around the world. The world begins to whisper about the possibility of alien invaders.

One night, Graham observes a shadowy figure on the top of his barn. He and Merrill rush outside to scare off what they believe are the teenage vandals but are perplexed when the figure seems to leap from an unbelievable height and retreats into the cornfield. A few nights later, Graham finds another crop circle in the field and hears mysterious clicking sounds coming from within the corn. As he investigates, he sees a bizarre looking shape retreat into the corn. Graham is disturbed by the figure and retreats home. Not long after, Morgan begins playing with Bo’s old baby monitor and begins hearing the same mysterious clicking noises.

As tensions begin to elevate around the world, Graham’s family begins watching television constantly as news footage comes in from the four corners of the planet. The most disturbing of which is a grainy video from Central America which shows a figure that is definitively not human. While watching the news reports, Graham comforts his brother’s fears by telling him that people could interpret the sight of the lights in the sky as either a good or bad thing and that some people would believe that the lights are signs. He also relays the account of the last words of his wife before she died when she was pinned up against a tree. Graham tells Merrill that Colleen told him to “see” and for Merrill to “swing away”.

There’s a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water? Bo Hess (Abigail Breslin)

Not long afterwards, Graham receives a phone call from Ray Reddy (M. Night Shyamalan), the town veterinarian and the man who was responsible for Colleen’s accidental death. The call remains active but Ray stops talking. Graham goes over to Ray’s house to investigate. He finds Ray sitting in his car outside the house. Ray expresses his deep remorse for his part in the accident, but also warns Graham that he locked one of the aliens inside his pantry. Ray informs Graham that he has heard that the aliens avoid areas with water and then leaves for the lakeside. Graham is compelled to investigate inside Ray’s house, remaining cynical to the idea of alien invaders. Graham attempts to use a butcher’s knife to look under the door of Ray’s pantry. However, when an alien claw attempts to grab him from underneath the door, Graham panics and accidentally cuts off three fingers from the alien’s hand.

Now a believer, Graham returns home to his family. The news broadcasts seems to indicate that a worldwide alien invasion has begun. Graham and Merrill board up all the windows and doors in the house. Graham then attempts to calm everyone by making the family’s favorite meals. However, the family hears the aliens kill the family dog that Graham and Merrill forgot to bring inside. Once they hear the aliens on the roof, Graham realizes that they forgot to board up the attic and has everyone retreat to the basement. Merrill is able to secure the door of the basement, but Graham remembers that there is a coal shoot in the basement that may allow the aliens into the basement. Graham and Merrill find the shoot directly behind Morgan. However, an alien is in the coal shoot and grabs Morgan. Graham saves his son and Merrill blocks the shoot, but the sudden surprise has caused Morgan to have an asthma attack. Graham realizes that they left Morgan’s inhaler upstairs when they retreated to the basement. Graham tries to get his son to relax and curses at God for threatening to take another one of his family members away. The family sits in the dark throughout the night as Morgan struggles for each breath.

The next morning, everything appears to have quieted down upstairs and Merrill investigates. He confirms that there are no aliens in the house, and Graham takes his kids upstairs. Merrill begins to clean up the house with Bo while Graham goes to get medicine for the still struggling Morgan. When Graham returns to the living room, the alien whose fingers that Graham cut off is holding Morgan in its arms. Even worse, it appears that the alien is threatening to spray poison into Morgan’s face. Graham freezes and suddenly remembers his wife’s last words. Graham “sees” Merrill’s bat hanging on the wall and tells his brother to “swing away.” Merrill grabs his bat and attacks the alien. The alien sprays what is believed to be poison in Morgan’s face. Graham grabs his son and huddles with Bo while Merrill presses the attack. During the fight, a glass of water that Bo constantly leaves lying around the house spills on the alien and burns it. Merrill begins hitting various glasses of water at the alien until it falls onto the floor causing a glass to spill onto its head. The alien dies.

Meanwhile, Graham takes Morgan outside and gives him an injection to open his lungs. Graham tells everyone that due to his asthma, the alien’s poison couldn’t get in. After a few seconds, Morgan regains consciousness and appears to be fine.

The film ends a few months later during the winter. The children and Merrill appear to have recovered and rebounded from their grief and the alien attack. Graham puts on his jacket as it is shown that he has returned to the church having recovered his faith.