REVIEW #375 The Watchers (2024)

An American artists finds herself lost in a remote forest in Ireland, saved from the darkness by a group of strangers she soon finds herself trapped by mysterious beings called ‘The Watchers’.

The Watchers is Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut and one I believe has been harshly criticised by critics and fans alike. She has clearly inherited the style of her father and has delivered a tense, dark, horror fantasy that has a lot to enjoy. Is it perfect? No, but it’s rare that films of this particular genre ever are! Personally my favourite aspect was the cinematography, I’m a sucker for the aesthetic of an expansive forest in movies and you combine that with the eerie colour grading, the horror features and it created a really cool aesthetic that juxtaposed perfectly against ‘The Coups’ bright interior, centred at the heart of the forest. The writing was unfortunately one of the weaker elements, with the characters making unrealistic decisions, but that’s very common in horrors. However, my biggest issue was the final 15 minutes, after what seemed like a fantastic final climax of the movie, they continued the story and it felt so disconnected from the rest of the film, I thought it was rather unnecessary to be honest. Performances across the board were pretty strong and really sold the storyline. But overall, I think it’s a solid debut, setting the foundations for Ishana to improve her craft and I’m glad I got to see it in theatres!

Overall (6.8/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan