The Watchers
When 28-year-old artist Mina finds shelter after getting stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
- Released: 2024-06-07
- Runtime: 102 minutes
- Genre: Mystery, Thrillers
- Stars: Siobhan Hewlett, Alistair Brammer, Kya Brame, Shane O'Regan, Shannon Antonia, Hannah Howland, Anthony Morris, Kofi De Graft Jordan, Cara Steele, Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Seán T. Ó Meallaigh, Jacob Greenway, Diarmuid de Faoite, Andrea Bechis, Ann Marie Horan, Jim Tighe
- Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Comments
- michvanbeek - 3 July 2024
Skillfully made, but extremly boring
The first thought that came to my mind was literally "like father, like daughter". Ishana Night Shyamalan, yes the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, makes her directorial debut with The Watchers. Proud dad Manoj has made the strangest films in the past and even managed to win 2 Oscars with them. He stayed on as producer of the film and his daughter Ishana adapted the book of the same name by A. M. Shine into a movie and it is now in theaters. In the leading role we see Dakota Fanning, who started acting at a very young age. You know her from films such as I Am Sam, War of the Worlds and later she also played the role of Jane in the Twilight films. The rest of the cast may be less known to the general public, but that often works best. When I saw the trailer I immediately got the feeling that this film could be good, because it had such a mystical setting and it all looked quite strange, something I can usually really appreciate.
Still, that was really disappointing, because the film is indeed strange, but I really got the feeling I also got with films like The Village and Lady in the Water. I should maybe watch The Village again, but I know that this film did not appeal to me at all. The use of color and especially the style in the film have been copied one on one from Dad's films and Ishana would have been a little more pleased if they created their own identity and did not blindly adopt Dad's style. The first part of the film is of course a bit of exploring and seeing where it will take you. Mina works at a pet store where she is not really happy in a very boring Irish village. She packs the car, takes a bird with her and heads off to a piece of woods where at one point her car breaks down in an X-Files-esque manner. Ok, you might think it's exciting. She then comes to a mysterious sign that marks a point of no return and then a boring part of the film begins and the interest slowly fades away. When she suddenly comes out of nowhere to a house, where she is let in, the whole thing only starts to become vaguer, especially when they are eventually watched by strange creatures in front of a large mirrored window. A kind of supernatural Big Brother, so to speak.
The creatures only come at night and during the day you have to run around through the woods looking for food and of course exploring the area. They can't go past the signs, because if you go past them you'll never be able to get in in time before dark and the creatures are quite murderous. You can immediately see that the film is cinematographically well put together and that Ishana delivers a professional job in terms of style and setting, but the concept of the film is simply ridiculous and goes nowhere. Perhaps the book will be better (or not of course), that's all possible, but I haven't read the book and didn't really plan to, especially after seeing this movie. The use of color, the camera angles, the environment, the cast, the film actually has everything except the story. Because at a certain point it becomes clear what the beings are and what the purpose of the beings is, but even then I was like "what the...", it just doesn't make any sense at all and the final denouement was in my look even more ridiculous.
The Watchers is a skillfully made film with beautiful camera work and beautiful use of color, but the story is just too ridiculous for words and just makes no sense at all. At the beginning you will still appreciate the mysticism, but the further you get into the film, the more boring and uninteresting the film becomes. The debut of M. Night Shyamalan's daughter is good in terms of craftsmanship, but it really deserved a better script. Despite this film, Ishana Night Shyamalan is a name I will look forward to, because everyone can start in a minor key and everyone makes a bad film sometimes, I mean, just look at her father who plays dragons in films like Lady in the Water delivered, but if he delivered a good film, then it was immediately really good and in that respect the same may well happen with this newcomer. As far as the film is concerned, it's better to skip this if you want a scary evening, because besides the fact that it's just not scary, the story is also just ridiculously bad. - JonyVeana - 1 July 2024
Good directors debut
Good debut by my girl Ishana, she is not a nepobaby she is a student and she is a very talented girl and she is going to be bigger than his daddy im sure of that, she has come a long way to be here and im happy for there and i loved his smile since i the day u I knew her in that convention,
Amazing plot and monster designs, there is no movies with fairies as the main threat and that made this movie a refreshing one, it has good action of the 4 actors a very good and dramatic past and a good finale with a very common plot twist like his father always do, very good movie but 6 is a perfect score above average. - Deep_2050 - 30 June 2024
Don't believe the Negative reviews . A watchable experience
### Uncannily Similar Plot to "From": A Watchable Experience
This movie has a plot that is uncannily similar to the series "From." In both, the characters are trapped in a place from which they cannot escape, and they must deal with the threat of monsters that come out at night. Despite the similarities, the movie is overall watchable and offers an engaging experience. The suspense and atmosphere keep viewers on the edge of their seats. I don't understand the hate towards Manoj Night Shyamalan. Cinematography is top notch . Don't believe the negative reviews; give it a chance and see for yourself. - curtis-branker - 17 June 2024
Done with the Shyamalans
I tried to continue giving them a chance, I really did. But their movies are basically a waiting game for some asinine "twist" at the end. I suffered through Old and tried to swear off of them, but I keep hoping for another stroke of brilliance, which never comes. Now we have to endure his daughter too? No thanks, hard pass for me. It hurts to think of all the talented writers out there whose scripts never get a real chance. And here we have nepotism on full display. It is shameful and extremely disappointing. Apparently inserting the occasional decent actor doesn't help matters either. They can't bring silly scripts to life. It is exactly as they say, you can't polish a t*rd. So long Shyamalans, it's been a bumpy ride. - movieman6-413-929510 - 16 June 2024
As a director, Ishana Shyamalan must become more her own and copy less from others and her father.
The Watchers is a new horror thriller directed and written by Ishana Shyamalan. This is her directorial debut. Furthermore, the film was produced by her father, director M. Night Shyamalan.
When young artist Mina (Dakota Fanning) gets stuck in an unknown forest with car trouble. Here she is told by a woman Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) to come to her quickly, to take shelter in her bunker.
Once in the bunker, she hears terrifying noises outside. These sounds come from beings called the Watchers, mysterious beings who emerge to observe the prisoners in the bunker. Anyone who is not in the bunker at night becomes victims of these Watchers. Mina and the other prisoners must now come up with a plan to escape the Watchers during the day, or end up stuck here for the rest of their lives, or become prey to the Watchers themselves.
Ishana Shyamalan, just like her father, knows how to build a story and its mystery. However, she now has to learn to make a film more her own. This film is reminiscent of many other films such as The Blair Witch Project, 10 Cloverfield Lane and even the TV series Wayward Pines, on which her father also contributed as director and producer. The story also has some unusual moments, which sometimes makes the film seem vague rather than scary. All the rules that the characters receive in the bunker do not always seem to have been reflected in such detail. Other details can also seem a bit strange and not always everything seems to have been given the same amount of thought. When you do get answers and further details at the end, it sometimes makes the film just more vague than it actually answers all your answers. As a result, the film can sometimes come across as a bit long-winded.
The Watcher largely remain mysterious in the film, because they are not shown, or only shown. This way your own imagination plays out when you hear the sounds of the Watchers before they are actually shown to you. In the darkness these creatures look believable, but when they come into the light, the quality and believability of the effects diminish slightly. Their shadow appearance may also be reminiscent of how her father tried to keep the aliens hidden in his films Signs.
The acting in the film works, but due to the vague, ill-considered aspects of the story, the actors sometimes come across as if they do not always know exactly what is expected of them or what they have to do. However, they sometimes seem a bit too calm to people who know that they are hiding and being observed by mysterious creatures. Some of the characters are also given too little background to make you as a viewer really care about them.
