A debut feature film is no easy feat, and should - with some exceptions - always be celebrated. It’s hard to make a movie under any circumstance, so it should be noted that even when a film is “a swing and a miss”, it should still count for something. Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut, The Watchers, is a miss, but it’s a worthy attempt from a first-time feature film director. The film is based on the novel by A.M. Shine - which I have not read before viewing this film - that chronicles several people who are trapped behind glass in a cabin in the forest, where their activities are on display for viewing by mysterious creatures only known as “the watchers”. The premise of The Watchers is highly intriguing, but its delivery is unfortunately lackluster. There is so much promise set up for this film, but it does both nothing and far too much simultaneously.
Mina (Dakota Fanning) is an American immigrant living in Ireland, directionless and running away from her past. She would rather be anyone but herself. She is tasked with delivering a parrot to a zoo in Belfast. On the drive, her car breaks down in the middle of the woods. Technology doesn’t work in this area, under any circumstance. The sun sets, a feeling of dread begins to set in, and an older woman named Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) ushers Mina into the bunker where the majority of the film takes place. She meets two other cellmates, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan). Like clockwork, the group must stand in front of the glass window of “The Coop”, on display for the watchers. With nothing to hide behind, these four people must display themselves as they are, in full view of an unknowing audience.
The symbolism throughout The Watchers is apparent, but it feels like an untapped mine of resources lies beneath the surface to make this a truly great film. The horror of the creatures is alluded to, yet it never feels like there’s any real threat. There are moments where you can feel tension build, but you can barely feel a tug of the rope as the creatures are then put on display in the limelight and the feeling of horror is gone.
The movie - marketed as one of the big horror releases of 2024 - unravels into more of a fantasy-like thriller, not really sure what it wants to be, much like the labyrinthian forest that these characters find themselves trying to escape. There are little to no scares throughout the film, and the story feels both empty and convoluted, comprised of exposition dumps that are trying to cram as much of the lore in as possible in the film’s limited time frame. Even the attempt at a twist doesn’t feel that satisfying. While the lore details are heavy, the character development is paper thin, and I simply wasn’t invested enough in the characters to care about the outcome.
Shyamalan incorporates some unique shots in this film, but the end result simply doesn’t live up to the hype. There is definitely promise here in her capabilities as a director, and I admire her for taking on a debut that is steeped in mythology. But with mythological territory in film or television, you have to figure out how to boil down the most essential elements into an intriguing story. The end result doesn’t work as a horror or a fantasy film, and it’s a shame. While ambitious in scope, The Watchers bills itself as a voyeuristic horror story, but there’s surprisingly little to look at.
Release Date: June 7th, 2024
Rated: PG-13 (for violence, terror, and some thematic elements)
Running Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
Directed by: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Written by: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Nimitt Mankad
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan