First Trailer Released for M. Night Shyamalan Thriller Remain

M. Night Shyamalan has never stopped making movies, but his recent work exists in the shadow of the films that made him a recognizable filmmaker.

The director followed The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs with a string of divisive projects, and his recent thrillers have struggled to reach the same cultural heights. Old was an uneven high-concept thriller, Knock at the Cabin earned a stronger critical response but remained modest at the box office, and 2024’s Trap was a strange Shyamalan experiment that split audiences.

A new project is coming early next year that brings Shyamalan back to familiar territory: supernatural mysteries, romance, and eerie small-town secrets.

That movie is Remain, a collaboration between Shyamalan and romance novelist Nicholas Sparks, the author behind The Notebook. With the first teaser trailer now available, the movie looks like a return to the supernatural storytelling that made Shyamalan a household name.

Rather than being a straightforward adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, the project began with an original story developed by Sparks and Shyamalan together. Sparks wrote the novel version, while Shyamalan wrote the screenplay and directed the film.

The book came first, but Hollywood did not simply purchase a bestselling novel and turn it into a movie.

What is Remain about?

Remain stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Tate Gordon, a reclusive architect who arrives in a small coastal town to work on his latest project. He meets Wren, played by Phoebe Dynevor from Bridgerton, an alluring young woman who draws him out of his shell. The two form a connection, with the teaser showing them playing board games, spending time together, and falling in love, but the romance is complicated.

Wren’s idyllic life hides a darker reality, and Tate finds himself caught up in a mystery hanging over the town. The trailer shifts from romance into something unsettling, teasing a secret that threatens to pull the couple into a supernatural nightmare.

The movie is billed as a supernatural romance with a mystery at its center. Audiences are likely to spend the first half wondering what they are watching before Shyamalan starts pulling the curtain back.

The Remain book received mixed reviews

The novel version of Remain arrived in 2025, giving readers an early look at the story that would make its way to the big screen. Reviews were mixed, with most praising the book’s atmospheric blend of romance, mystery, and supernatural horror while criticizing its rushed romance and predictable mystery. The result is The Notebook meets The Sixth Sense, a combination that brings Sparks’ emotional storytelling together with Shyamalan’s supernatural sensibilities.

That mix makes Remain intriguing as a love story with a ghostly mystery underneath, rooted in themes of grief, loss, and human connection. Judging by the first teaser, Shyamalan is leaning into that combination to return to the mysterious, supernatural storytelling that defined his biggest hits.

Remain arrives in theaters across North America on Feb. 5, 2027, with its international release beginning Feb. 3.

Source: Polygon