“Unbreakable,” August 22

Friday, August 22, 7 p.m.

The Last Picture House, 325 East Second Street, Davenport IA

A box-office hit from 2000 lauded by Quentin Tarantino as "a brilliant retelling of the Superman mythology," M. Night Shymalan's psychological superhero thriller Unbreakable enjoys a special August 22 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House, the event hosted by, and featuring a subsequent Q&A with, therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright, both of the nationally renowned podcast Cinema Therapy.

In Unbreakable, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is taking a train from New York City back home to Philadelphia when his car jumps the tracks and collides with an oncoming engine, The only survivor among the 131 passengers on board, David is not only alive, he hardly seems to have been touched. As David wonders what has happened to him and why he was able to walk away unscathed, he encounters a mysterious stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who explains to David that there are a certain number of people who are "unbreakable." They have remarkable endurance and courage, a predisposition toward dangerous behavior, and feel invincible, but also have strange premonitions of terrible events. Is David "unbreakable"? And if he is, what are the physical and psychological ramifications of this knowledge?

Released in the United States on November 22, 2000, Unbreakable grossed $30.3 million in its opening weekend, and ended up earning $95 million domestically and $153.1 million against its $75 million production budget. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus deems Shymalan's follow-up to The Sixth Sense "a quietly suspenseful film that intrigues and engages, taking the audience through unpredictable twists and turns along the way," Desson Thomson of The Washington Post, meanwhile, wrote that "just as he did in The Sixth Sense, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan leads you into a fascinating labyrinth, an alternative universe that lurks right under our noses. In this case, it's the mythological world and, in these modern times, the secret design to that labyrinth, the key to the path, is contained in comic books."

Serving as the Unbreakable event's presenters, licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and professional filmmaker Alan Seawright are Cinema Therapy, a podcast that has garnered more than 1.8 million subscribers and 120 million views. Together, they draw from their experiences on the job to explore the psychology of your favorite films. These "Internet Dads" combine humor, heart, and vulnerability to share healthy relationship skills, mental health awareness, and movie-making magic. Decker has a bachelor's in psychology, a master's in couples and family therapy, and is the clinical director of Mended Light, an online trauma clinic. He's also an author, actor, and former stage comedian who lives in Missouri with his family. Seawright has directed more than 100 commercials, three seasons of documentary television, many short films, two documentary features, and one narrative feature. He has been awarded two Emmys for directing, and lives in Utah with his family, two dogs, and, as he says, nightly bouts of regret.

Unbreakable will be shown in Davenport on August 22, and the 7 p.m. screening will be followed by a brief talk-back with Cinema Therapy hosts Decker and Seawright. For more information and tickets, visit LastPictureHouse.com.