THE WATCHERS (2024) - Movie Review

Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Mystery
Writer: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Runtime: 102 min
Rated: PG-13 for violence, terror and some thematic elements
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), 4K Ultra HD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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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.

Review:

It seems 2024 was the year of the M. Night Shyamalan family. His daughter Saleka made her musical and acting debut in the filmmaker's new film "Trap", and earlier this year, her sister Ishana Night Shyamalan, made her writing and directing debut with "The Watchers", a horror film that her father produced. Unfortunately, despite a modest $30 million budget, "The Watchers" ended up being a box-office misfire, raking in just $33 million worldwide.

Dakota Fanning stars as a 28-year-old American artist who finds herself lost in a remote forest in western Ireland. She stumbles upon a bunker-like shelter and three strangers who have been stranded there for several months. She also discovers that every night, mysterious beings called the Watchers gather outside the concrete structure to watch them through a massive two-way mirror set up on the sanctuary's wall, as if they are part of a sick reality show. Whoever is caught outside the shelter at night will be killed, and escape from the woods seems to be all but impossible.

Based on A. M. Shine's novel of the same name, the film's premise sounds like it can sustain a decent amount of psychological tension and sinister atmosphere. However, around the half-way point, the fantasy-tinged mystery fizzles out, giving away too much about the creatures while trying to set up a third act Shyamalan-style twist, which is unfortunately very predictable.

There are scenes towards the end in which characters spell out the film's themes. There are good ideas in here that could have reinforced the psychological horror, but the metaphors and symbolism are hammered into the narrative without finesse or subtlety. Apparently, the filmmaker didn't trust the audience to get the point, without hitting them over the head with it. The creatures are also somewhat disappointing, both in design and lore, and shown way too often using assembly-line CGI.

Overall, the movie thinks its smarter than it really is. It's got a decent cast, and good production values, but it tries too hard to emulate M. Night Shyamalan's fimmaking style and makes too many unforced errors in the process that ultimately derail the movie. The result is a dull and predictable horror film without much mystery or suspense.

SCORE: 5.5/10