History Film / Signs

* ArtisticLicenseTraditionalChristianity: In one scene, a girl named Tracey insists on confessing her sins to Graham in order to clear her conscience, since she feels remorseful about a recent argument with a friend. Graham was an ''Episcopal'' priest, while Confession is primarily a ''Catholic'' tradition; the Episcopal Church has many similarities to the Catholic Church (it's an American offshoot of Anglicanism, which is an English offshoot of Catholicism), but it doesn't recognize Confession as a sacrament. To be fair: Tracey may not have known that, and she doesn't actually use the term "Confession".

* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
** What are they bleeding when the water dissolves them? While not all liquids are H[[subscript:2]]O-based, a very large number that can viably exist in a liquid state are.
** Why are their bodies harmed by the liquid state of H[[subscript:2]]O but not what is in the atmosphere? One could justify it in low humidity environments but what about going through clouds, high humidity environments or precipitation?

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: No mention is ever made of Ray Reddy facing any legal repercussions for killing Graham's wife. While her death may have been an accident, Ray should (at the very least) have been charged with involuntary manslaughter for hitting her with his truck. In Pennsylvania, involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

** And while we're on the subject of technology, and to quote [[WebSeries/NostalgiaCritic Doug Walker]]:

''Signs'' is notable for being the last of Shyamalan's films following ''Film/TheSixthSense'' to have a generally positive reception before his reputation as a filmmaker began to decline following the release of ''Film/TheVillage''. The film can also be interpreted as something of a spiritual successor to ''The Sixth Sense'' and ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', being a similarly dark and introspective family drama that presents an unconventional take on a popular genre of speculative fiction, largely eschewing flashy action in favor of thematic exploration and character studies. After putting a new spin on [[GhostStory ghost stories]] and {{superhero}}es, ''Signs'' completes the trifecta by tackling [[AlienInvasion alien invasions]].

In a unique spin on this premise, however, the events that follow are told entirely from the perspective of the Hesses as they attempt to survive the invasion while hiding out on their remote farm. Instead of prioritizing action set-pieces, ''Signs'' mainly focuses on the sheer terror of an ordinary family caught in the path of an attack by bizarre creatures that they don't understand. This suspense is aided by Shyamalan's direction embracing a [[NothingIsScarier "less is more"]] approach in its depiction of the aliens, keeping details about their appearance and background minimal and never showing them using any sort of advanced technology apart from their spaceships[[note]]which are permanently [[StealthInSpace rendered invisible with cloaking devices]][[/note]], making them come across more like ''monsters'' than traditional alien invaders. At heart, the film is essentially a drama about a widowed father's spiritual crisis as he struggles to interpret a series of enigmatic [[TitleDrop signs]] from above, inspiring him to question whether life has an inherent meaning and purpose.

''Signs'' is notable for being the last of Shyamalan's films following ''Film/TheSixthSense'' to have a generally positive reception before his reputation as a filmmaker began to decline following the release of his next film, ''Film/TheVillage''. The film can also be interpreted as something of a spiritual successor to ''The Sixth Sense'' and another previous effort of his, ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', being a similarly dark and introspective family drama that presents an unconventional take on a popular genre of speculative fiction by largely eschewing flashy action in favor of thematic exploration and character studies. After putting a new spin on [[GhostStory ghost stories]] and {{superhero}}es, ''Signs'' completes the trifecta by tackling [[AlienInvasion alien invasions]].

* TinfoilHat: Becoming paranoid, the family starts to wear aluminum foil clothing to try and protect themselves.