How M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable redefined the superhero movie 25 years ago
Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, was not a hit at the box office upon release, but is now considered a masterpiece
This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries.
M. Night Shyamalan has a knack for making genre films feel real. His 1999 breakthrough, The Sixth Sense, grounded a ghost story in an anxious family drama. Its immense financial success gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted next.
Although it underperformed at the box office, Unbreakable has since been reassessed, with figures such as Quentin Tarantino calling it “a brilliant retelling of the Superman mythology”. Viewed today, as superhero films swamp the box office, it looks closer to a masterpiece than a misstep.
When David Dunn (Bruce Willis) survives a train crash that kills the other 131 passengers, he and his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) begin to suspect he might be invulnerable.