‘The Watchers’ Offers a Flawed But Intriguing Early-Aughts-Style Chiller
In defense of Ishana Shyamalan’s feature debut and other underachieving yet good scary movies
For the record, I'm a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan. Yet even I can’t deny that the man hasn’t made a great film since 2016’s Split, which briefly put him back in the Hollywood zeitgeist. Still, understandably, there was a lot of buzz and anticipation from the horror community for his daughter Ishana’s feature debut for a reason. The Watchers clearly intended to follow in her father’s footsteps (who had his “hand” in it as a producer) and give us a film that could prove nepotism isn’t always a bad thing.
If you saw or heard about the movie's cold reception, it's fair to say the Shyamalan progeny fell short of living up to her dad's craft and finesse on her first try. Despite that, however, I feel The Watchers has been judged more harshly and unfairly by critics and viewers than it deserved to be. For a first attempt from a young filmmaker with not many credits to her name (though what she did on Servant both as a writer and director was encouraging), it's a decent B horror. In fact, it’s refreshing to see a genre movie that opts not to succumb to the “elevated horror” trend of today, or try too hard to become the powerhouse that Shyamalan’s more recent films aimed to be (with moderate success).
No, The Watchers is a quiet and modest mid-budget horror that recalls the era of early and mid-aughts chillers that millions of Millennial horror freaks watched growing up. It’s not wholly original, sickeningly gore-filled, or nerve-rackingly scary, but it has a mysterious vibe embedded in an engaging mythical story. That’s a good start for any Shyamalan offspring, I believe. Now, if you have preconceptions because of the director’s last name, or if you want an inventive, twist-heavy, and profoundly disturbing ride of blood and guts, you'll be greatly disappointed. This movie is none of that. And don't get me wrong, it's ok to want all that and more from a 2024 horror — but sometimes, and I emphasize sometimes, watching something familiar and guessing most of the twists before they come can be entertaining, too.
With that in mind, here’s the gist: Mina (Dakota Fanning) is an American immigrant living in Galway, Ireland, vaping aimlessly in the pet shop she works at. She ran away from a childhood trauma — a freak accident that left her with an unbearable guilt and deep sorrow — and even in the past 15 years she couldn’t come to terms with it. Her life in Ireland revolves around distraction (sometimes she hooks up with strangers playing dress-up), and taking a trip to deliver a rare parrot to a Belfast zoo is certainly another one of those. Except, before even making it close to her destination, Mina's car breaks down in the middle of a forest, and then flat-out disappears, leaving her lost and helpless with a phone that also stops working.
Thanks to a grey-haired lady called Madeline (Olwen Fouere), though, she’s rescued and led to a bunker (aptly named The Coop) where two other lost souls await her. Right before the ominous darkness descends and unleashes its feral creatures who love to stare at humans and occasionally gobble them up as delicious treats. They’re called the Watchers (surprise!), and they always come at night to observe these people through a giant two-way mirror for fun — or for a very specific reason the script will reveal later on. And if anyone finds themselves on the wrong side of the glass at the wrong hour, they might as well start praying and getting ready for the afterlife.
As you might've guessed, these woods are cursed and ruled by nocturnal monsters. Although it takes an overlong exposition until Ishana establishes this as a status quo — fully embracing the mystical aspect of A.M Shine’s novel her film is based on — she spends that time carefully building suspense and expanding lore. If you don’t mind this slow pace, you’ll get rewarded for your patience.
That reward is an unpretentious creature feature that doesn't get bogged down by overemphasizing trauma, pompous symbolizations, or stacking up ambiguous metaphors for attempting to be more high-brow than it actually is. Not every folk horror needs to be provocative and densely layered to tell a good story — sometimes it’s enough to scratch the surface of multiple themes to provide your narrative its next plot point.
The Watchers is straightforward in its storytelling even if that means its writer-director repeatedly dumping information through bare-bone dialogue. She does that to focus on developing an eerie atmosphere and inject it with dread and mystique, which she revels in the most. And after when what lurks in the shadows is exposed (a familiar yet effective creature design combined with neat and creepy sound effects), there’s an interesting backstory to unfold, explaining their origins and the obsession they have with humans.
There’s value in these types of horrors that don’t necessarily aim to deliver a deeper meaning (or a hidden message) yet insist on their seriousness to a degree. The Watchers is a prime example (mostly because of its director), but I could cite better yet lesser-known genre pieces like this year’s Arcadian (with a restrained Nicolas Cage and a fantastic, innovative monster design), 2023's The Boogeyman, or the similar folklore horror Antlers from 2021 that are all underrated (and quickly forgotten) in one way or another.
I’m not saying The Watchers will be looked at as a masterpiece or cult classic (although Shyamalan’s The Village did manage to achieve that, deservedly) 20 years from now. Still, Ishana’s feature debut is much more solid than what she’s given credit for. She’s got a lot of stuff to figure out and work on to hone her voice as an up-and-coming filmmaker, but this first movie undoubtedly shows promise that she could continue and further her father’s legacy as a gifted director and storyteller in Hollywood.
Recently, I reviewed The Bear’s latest (and best) season for Paste Magazine, so check that out if you haven’t yet. As for The Screen, there’s more new stuff to come soon.
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