Totally unrelated to the discussions above, I had two problems with "The Village"...

1. When, later in the film, we are expected to recall words spoken earlier in the film, those words are voice-overed. Normally I feel like I'm merely being patronized when they do that, but in this film it was so blatant and hit-you-over-the-head that I was just disgusted. Hey, Knight, I was paying attention earlier. You didn't need to remind me about the "rumors" of creatures in the woods to increase the suspense, especially considering that you were already about 60 seconds past the moment where I really needed to recall it in order for the suspense to be useful. You didn't need to remind me that she would "come upon a hidden path" when that's precisely what she just did.

2. During the chase in the woods late in the film, he kept cutting back to a still picture of treetops, mid-chase. It totally ruined the rhythm of the scene. It was like chase chase chase treetops, chase chase chase treetops. I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I was watching a movie that was edited with an editing machine instead of being involved in the story. It took me out of my "suspension of disbelief" mode and put me into "noticing the man behind the curtain" mode.

Other than that, I liked the film a lot. I've got no opinion one way or the other on the thematic discussions.