Mina, a young American artist in Ireland with a traumatic past involving her mother’s death, is tasked with delivering a rare golden parakeet to a zoo in the west of the country. During her journey, she gets trapped in a forest from which she cannot escape. Pursued by mysterious creatures, she is rescued by a group of strangers and takes refuge with them in a bunker known as “the Den.” Here, she must, like the others, “be watched,” meaning she must stand before a large mirror surface each night, where monsters observe humans without being seen. It is essential to comply to ensure survival. Revealing more would spoil the plot, which is critical to keep intact.
The premise of The Watchers, the feature debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of the more famous M. Night, directly connects her to her father’s cinematic style. Produced by M. Night Shyamalan and loosely based on A. M. Shine’s novel of the same name, its derivative nature is evident, reflected in several key elements. First, a group of strangers forced to live together in the face of horror, reminiscent of M. Night’s films, such as Old. Secondly, nothing is as it seems, with the plot’s rules ready to be overturned and rewritten multiple times during development. Here, the characters are spied on by mysterious eyes, but who are the watchers? This foundational question encapsulates the enigma’s essence.
The underlying concept creates a strong connection with M. Night, as Ishana, like her father, manipulates a primary horror archetype—the creatures that watch you—to rewrite it in a new form and reinstall it with her vision. Ishana, like Manoj, seeks to undermine the obvious and the banal, looking behind, beneath, and beside the expected to imbue it with the uncanny. She understands that horror constantly feeds on the same forms and fears, which recur repeatedly, such as the cursed forest and dark tunnels where monsters lurk.
The director casts Dakota Fanning as the protagonist, who admirably shoulders the story’s frightening burden, exploring many nuances from past remorse to survival. While the first part is set in the dark forest, the final section returns to society, delivering a “Shyamalan twist,” a plot twist that forces a reinterpretation of the story and leads to the conclusion.
However, it would be unfair to reduce the author to merely a product of her father because, despite its derivative nature, the film stands on its own. Ishana demonstrates a good command of fear, including jumpscares. Though not offering anything truly innovative, she concludes the film honorably. The story’s rhythm gradually slows, deflating somewhat in the second half, even presenting a rhetorical reflection on the human race that M. Night would have avoided. On the other hand, it introduces a strong female character, a young woman seeking inner peace, reflecting the director’s feminine perspective. With The Watchers, amid its highs and lows, we may have witnessed the birth of the Shyamalan factory.
Emanuele Di Nicola
Cinematografo, June 6, 2024