THE WATCHERS (2024)

Genre: Thriller
Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Olwen Foué, John Lynch, Alistair Brammer
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror & Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 6 June 2024

Synopsis: The Watchers follows Mina, a 28-year old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

Movie Review:

Being a nepotism baby can be a tricky thing even though actor Jack Quaid embraces the label and agrees he is indeed an immensely privileged person. However, expectations can be sky high when your parents are as famous as American’s sweetheart Meg Ryan or renowned filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.

With the release of The Watchers, all eyes on Ishana Night Shyamalan who is making her debut screen feature under her famous dad’s production label, Blinding Edge Pictures. Adapted from the novel by Irish horror writer A.M. Shine, the younger Night wrote and helmed the suspense horror feature. It’s no surprise why Ishana choses The Watchers to be her debut feature as the material fares close enough to her dad’s earlier works such as The Village and The Lady in the Water. Part mystery, part fantasy and the obligatory big twist. It’s all there whether you like it or not.

Still, you can’t undermine Ishana Night Shyamalan’s talent despite the presence of his father who is the movie’s producer as well. For a start, The Watchers is brilliantly shot with the help of cinematographer Eli Arenson (Lamb). The movie is heavy on atmosphere, creepy and visually enriching absolutely fitting for a mystery, suspense feature. To add on, the lush forests and greenery in Ireland does contribute to the various ominous scenes.

But wait, let’s detour to the story. Mina (Dakota Fanning), an American woman for reason unexplained works in a pet shop in Ireland. One day, her boss tasked her to transport a parrot named Darwin to a zoo in Belfast. Coincidentally, her car broke down in the middle of a forest, she is stuck with no signal and what should you do when you hear mysterious loud hungry noises? Panic might be a good start.

Lucky for Mina, a mysterious white-hair lady, Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) led her to a bunker-like building, nicknamed "The Coop”. There’s also another young woman, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and young man, Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) inside the room. Mina is told by Madeline not to leave the bunker during night time as there are some mysterious violent forest creatures observing them via the two way mirror as if they are some sort of actors.

Needless to say, we are approaching spoiler territory if we continue with the story. Apparently some chilling Irish folklore is weaved into the whole narrative if you insist on knowing. The good thing is Ishana manages to keep her cards close to her chest which also explains why things can be a little sluggish for the first half. The premise starts to pick up in the second half with interesting mythology and fantasy elements thrown in to make it a thoroughly intriguing fairy tale.

Mina remains the most interesting layered human character in the entire movie. She is tortured by the death of her mother which sadly was indirectly caused by her own stubbornness. Though the movie never really explains why she prefers to lead a solitary life away from her twin sister, you sort of know it’s guilt, trauma perhaps. Dakota Fanning is a tour de force despite the minimal dialogue and often intense environment. Georgina Campbell on the other hand is kind of shortchanged and Olwen Fouéré will likely be remembered as the creepy white haired lady.

In the end, The Watchers is more of a modern fairy tale than an all-out horror story. If you approach it from the right angle, we are pretty sure you are going to enjoy Ishana’s directorial feature. As Palpatine says, we will watch her career with great interest.  

Movie Rating:

(Give this imaginative Irish-inspired fairy tale a chance)

Review by Linus Tee