If ever there were an award for the most unexpected author–director pairing, Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan might take the cake. Sparks is best known for his sweeping romantic dramas like The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, while Shyamalan built his career on eerie, twist-filled films like The Sixth Sense and Signs. On paper, they’re an unlikely duo. But according to Shyamalan, he’s long wanted to tell a romance story, and Sparks seemed like the perfect partner. Shyamalan conceived the story and wrote the screenplay, while Sparks developed the novel adaptation. The result is Remain, a supernatural love story that attempts to merge the sensibilities of both creators into one seamless, hauntingly heartfelt tale.
Architect Tate Donovan has traded the bustle of New York City for the quiet shores of Cape Cod. The move isn’t meant to be permanent, just a chance to reset after his release from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for depression. Still reeling from the death of his sister, Sylvia, Tate can’t shake the weight of her final words. She claimed to see spirits tethered to the earth, a gift she insisted ran in their family. Tate doesn’t believe in such things, but her revelation lingers like a shadow he can’t quite escape.
Officially, Tate is on the Cape to design a home for an old friend. Unofficially, he’s searching for peace. He rents a room in a historic bed-and-breakfast, where he meets a mysterious young woman named Wren. Though he’s told he’s the only guest, Wren’s presence feels disarmingly natural. Soon, though, he begins to sense that something isn’t quite right. Beneath the charm of the seaside town, jealousy, greed, and buried secrets begin to surface, threatening to destroy their fragile connection. As Tate digs into Wren’s past, he finds himself questioning everything he knows about life, death, and love itself.
Although I’m familiar with the films of M. Night Shyamalan, this was my first encounter with the writing of Nicholas Sparks. Remain feels like a story caught between its two creators. It never fully commits to either the romance or the supernatural, and as a result, it comes across as half-baked. The novel touches on themes of grief, healing, and love, but not in ways that feel particularly fresh. It’s all just a little too familiar. And that’s a shame. Sparks has long excelled at crafting emotionally resonant characters, while Shyamalan has built a career on character-driven stories with clever twists. There are glimpses of that careful character work here, but the twists are easy to see coming. In the end, Remain feels like a missed opportunity. It's a story that aims for emotional depth and mystery but lands somewhere in between.
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(2025, 78)
