M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Remain’: First Reactions
Surprise! M. Night Shyamalan‘s hotly anticipated next feature Remain had an impromptu premiere at the 2026 Beyond Fest and the early reaction to the supernatural thriller has already hit social media.
Remain screened at the genre festival ahead of a planned retrospective screening of Shyamalan’s 1998 classic The Sixth Sense. The filmmaker personally introduced Remain at Beyond and to say festivalgoers were surprised is an understatement as his new feature is not slated to be released in theaters by Warner Bros. until Feb. 5, 2027. Although, Remain‘s original release date was Oct. 23, 2026 it was moved to be closer to Valentine’s Day.
Clearly Shyamalan and Warners are feeling bullish about the prospects of Remain, and the early screening and hype building backs up comments he made at Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York earlier this year, when he confessed that Remain was “my highest-testing movie of my career.” The positive reaction to Remain‘s first trailer also suggests Shyamalan is on to something.
Remain is a romantic supernatural thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Julie Hagerty, and tells the story of an architect recovering from depression who moves to Cape Cod and encounters a mysterious woman.
Shyamalan co-created the project with bestselling The Notebook and Dear John author Nicholas Sparks and Remain first appeared as a bestselling novel from the pair in 2025.
Remain is Shyamalan’s second consecutive film for Warners after 2024’s Trap which made $84 million at the box office off a $30 million budget and became something of a memeable pop culture phenomenon.
See the early reaction to Remain below.
After watching many of Night’s films with @BeyondFest we were treated to the new M Night film a bit early — coming in Feb 2027. REMAIN is M Night at his most calibrated – mixing romance, comedy, and horror in a pitch perfect way that he truly has mastered since The Visit. He’s… pic.twitter.com/DJf7bvx87q
— Will Landman 🍥 (@WillTheLandMan) September 30, 2026
#Remain is Shyamalan at his most earnest and sincere. Such a heartfelt and romantic throwback to his early work bolstered by another sensation James Newton Howard score. Arguably his most achingly vulnerable since Signs. A beautiful film about openness, intimacy, self love, and… pic.twitter.com/5W0m346B8E
— Griffin Schiller (@griffschiller) September 30, 2026
m. night shyamalan's new film remain is his vertigo. total return to form. him at his most hitchcock with the kitsch of what we know & expect of him & his style but with the unexpected heart of what pop audiences love of nicolas sparks.
— Amir Malekpour (@MalekpourAmir) September 30, 2026
i was at the secret premiere of m night shyamalan’s REMAIN — a delightfully pulpy ghost story that closes the clasp on several themes that pop up over the course of his career. love, memory, faith, absolution, destiny. AMA pic.twitter.com/PVXjYeOf1A
— boogie woogie bagel boy (@bippburger) September 30, 2026
I thought we were seeing The Sixth Sense tonight but M. Night came out and said he wanted to show us Remain first 🤯 this one doesn't come out until February!! Scary as hell and heartbreaking. Loved it. pic.twitter.com/5j3YPghz1u
— Josh Levesque (@JoshBLevesque) September 30, 2026
complete barnburner. my favorite Shyamalan this decade, formally electric and romantic and tragic and beautiful and mysterious and scary all in equal measure. every ghost story is a love story. if you’re not in for his goofiness you aren’t in for this but thank god that i am https://t.co/VNDKV6mJEN
— coffee (@eventualforever) September 30, 2026
Watched a surprise screening of M. Night Shyamalan’s REMAIN at @BeyondFest. A really enjoyable, consistently funny ghost story. There’s, of course, no subtlety, but that’s part of the package with the peculiar blend of Shyamalan & Nicholas Sparks. Jake Gyllenhaal is wonderful. pic.twitter.com/99b8NdCwwa
— Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film) September 30, 2026
— Accordingtoseth (@according2seth) September 30, 2026REMAIN is unlike anything M. Night Shyamalan has ever done. His funniest film yet, but also heartbreaking, heartwarming, scary, romantic, and just absolutely beautiful.
The score pierces your soul, and Phoebe Dynevor and Jake Gyllenhaal are ELECTRIC together. Their romance feels… pic.twitter.com/VAqyMgH7wk
REMAIN is going to crush. A great reminder that nobody does “fun, movie theater horror” like M. Night. Has the humor of Signs with tight emotional ghosty story of Sixth Sense. Lot of great scares. See it big and loud when it comes out.
— Luke Barnett (@LukeBarnett) September 30, 2026
i do not say this lightly: m night shyamalan’s new film, remain, is a masterpiece. a perfect companion to the sixth sense for a double feature and a moving, frightening, and beautiful film on its own.
— pierogibitch (@pierogiwitch) September 30, 2026
M. Night surprised The Sixth Sense Beyond Fest screening with Remain tonight and it was great! Very 90s supernatural freaky romance. Think What Lies Beneath with more kissing. Good stuff! 😘💀
— Phillip Iscove (@pmiscove) September 30, 2026
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