Review: The Watchers (2024) dir. Ishana Night Shyamalan

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s The Watchers was one of my most anticipated films of 2024. It’s rare that a first-time feature director ends up with the instant agreed-upon significance as Shyamalan, whose father is one of the great directors of our age and might have more than something to do with any (unfair) expectations for Ishana. Her adaptation of A. M. Shine’s novel demonstrates exciting ambition and professional skill, as well as an unsurprising command of the genre, though her tools are a bit too raw for her debut to work completely.

The welcome, recognizable face of Dakota Fanning does a bit of the heavy lifting, but let’s not fool ourselves by declaring her an honest-to-god movie star; she manages the role well and sometimes that’s enough. Not every performance needs to be Florence Pugh in Midsommar. The premise feels perfect for something weird and fucked up: Mina (Fanning), while finishing a delivery on the Irish coast, stumbles into the mythical part of the forest that I spent way too much time looking for as a kid. An older woman (Olwen Fouéré) saves her from certain death, bringing her into a cabin with two other guests her age and a giant one-way mirror on the wall that doubles as a window for “The Watchers,” a mysterious species of supernatural creatures who study their human captives at night (but can’t enter the locked cabin). Ishana Night Shyamalan takes advantage of the set-up for a few undeniable scares and fascinating images involving reflections and perspective, and that makes it a hard film to regret watching even if one comes out a bit sour on the total experience.

Continue reading at the Boston Hassle.