The Watchers starts off thrilling and suspenseful, boardering the line of horror and thriller, but never fully diving in far enough.
The Watchers is Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut. She is the daughter of famous director M. Night Shyamalan, who produces this film. Ishana follows in her father’s footsteps, choosing a suspenseful story, with a handful of twists, as her first feature. While it starts off intense and thrilling, it looses some steam along the way, especially in the end. Still, Ishana should be proud of her work with this one.
When Mina (Dakota Fanning) gets lost in the woods, she quickly comes to realize that these are not normal woods. There is something lurking inside. Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) suddenly appears, ushering into a one room building before just before nightfall.
She is then told that there is no way to leave the woods, and that her and the others who are lost must remain in this room overnight, where creatures observe and watch them through a two-way mirror. Only able to go out during the day, she decides she must find a way home, even if it means breaking the rules.
What Works In The Watchers
The first scene of The Watchers is sure to immediately pull viewers in, causing them to become invested in this forest, and the creatures that live there. Once Mina is trapped there, the stakes feel high, as we hope to see her and the others discover a way to leave.
There are a lot of suspenseful moments, and a few jump scares thanks to the well-done sound design. The Watchers is terrifying at times, we just wish it leaned more into that side of things.
The four main actors – Dakota Fanning (Mina), Georgina Campbell (Ciara), Olwen Fouéré (Madeline), and Oliver Finnegan (Daniel) – work well together. These characters were strangers until they found themselves trapped together in the forest and they do a wonderful job of showing that side of things. They are leary of each other, as they should be, but also know they must work together in order to survive.
What Doesn’t Work In The Watchers
The Watchers walks the fine line between thriller and horror, never passing over to the latter when it should. Horror fans will be left wanting more from this film, but thriller fans should feel satisfied.
There are a few twists, as to be expected when the name Shyamalan is attached to a film, even though this time it is M. Night’s daughter at the helm. While there are some surprises in store, any major twist is fairly predictable early on.
Though Dakota Fanning is incredible in this film, Mina is not a very likable character. She might be determined to leave, but she even admits outloud that she is not a nice person. Stuck in the past, she has a hard time caring about herself, which causes viewers to have a hard time doing so as well.
The biggest issue with The Watchers, however, lies within the third act. There is a moment where the movie should have ended, but continues on for another ten minutes or so. Should that ending have been left up to interpretation, with a shocking mid-credit scene for twist confirmation, the film would have worked much better overall.
Instead, the events end up diluted and overexplained, as there is too much lore shoved down the throats of viewers.
Overall Thoughts
The Watchers is great in the first half, but once the lore of the creatures in the forest starts to enter the story, it looses itself. The film suffers from overexplaining, especially in the third act, which ends up taking away from the more intense and suspenseful moments of the first two acts.
Ishana Shyamalan builds the tension well, making this a solid first feature for her, however she still has a few things to learn. There is no doubt that she will follow this up with an even better film, and we cannot wait to see it.
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About The Watchers
From producer M. Night Shyamalan comes “The Watchers,” written for the screen and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and based on the novel by A.M. Shine.
The film 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 who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
You can’t see them, but they see everything.