M. Night Shyamalan Judges The Quality of His Films Off of How Many People Take Bathroom Breaks

Director M. Night Shyamalan has an interesting way of judging the quality of his films and if he’s completely captured the attention of the audience with the story he’s telling. Shyamalan likes to tell stories with plenty of plot twists and he wants to make sure that audiences stay in their seats so they don’t miss anything important.

So, as a way to judge if his films are working the way he wants them to, during the test screening process, he watches and counts how many people get up during the movie to go to the bathroom. The filmmaker recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and explained:

“So, you screen the first cut of the movie, and it’s really long. It has like, everything in it. It’s not paced correctly. And about 50 people will go to the bathroom during the screening of the movie. They’ll just get up and go at some point in the movie. And as you make the movie and you keep on doing it, then 30 people go to the bathroom. And the time next it’s 20 people, and then 10 people, then 4 people. And then the last cut of the movie when it’s ready to go out, its 2 people and they’re running, and they’re backwards watching the screen as they go to the bathroom. And what’s really interesting is that you stop thinking about yourself when you’re completely connected to the movie. And like 500 people forget they needed to go to the bathroom.”

I’ve gotta admit, that’s actually a pretty great idea! It’s true! If a movie has captured and locked in my attention, I’m not going to get up to go to the bathroom. I’ll hold that shit! I wonder if any other directors do the same thing.

Shyamalan has seen a lot of success with his film projects recently. The Visit, Split, and Glass were all fantastic films. The filmmaker is back on the top of his game and I hope that he continues to keep pumping out awesome and intense thrillers.