Daddy’s little girl gives us nothing really special to watch.
“The Watchers” is the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, who is the daughter of (you guessed it)…M. Night Shyamalan. She served as a second unit director on his last two films “Old” and “Knock at the Cabin,” while her old man produces this latest horror fantasy. I think she might be following in his footsteps, because she providing us with twists and bizarre elements, but in her directorial debut, she doesn’t amount to much. It’s basically the same for him from time to time, but he’s made better films.
“The Watchers” is based on A.M. Shine’s book (no, not R.L. Stine), and tells the story of a forest in Northern Ireland that is so off the grid that returning home is impossible. In fact, there’s a sign that says: “Point of No Return.” Either the fog makes you lost or some creature attacks you. I think we can agree it’s both.
Dakota Fanning plays an American artist named Mina living in Galway, Ireland and working at the pet store, where she’s assigned to drop off a parrot in Belfast. She takes the day’s journey, but some comes across the forbidden forest, which has the power to kill her car and GPS.
She takes the parrot with her to find help, but the car disappears, and her only recourse is to follow an old woman named Madeline (Olwen Fouere) into a box nicknamed the Coop, with two other survivors Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan). She tells Mina that there are creatures who lurk in these woods, and how they watch them through a two way mirror. They can only see themselves in the mirror, while they watch from the outside to study them. But for what?
Their only source of entertainment is a reality TV show on a Season 3 DVD set, which seems like a good idea for a plot twist, but is undeveloped.
The creatures don’t come out in the day, so the survivors can hunt for food and supplies. But there are rules like not lurking in their territory or not looking at the two way mirror from the outside, and the forest is so evil, that it can play mind games on them. But Mina is persistent to get out of the woods, so how can she follow the rules?
“The Watchers” does look great with the foggy woods and the Coop, and Fanning (in her early 30s) is able to play characters in different generations. Some of her best roles include “My Neighbor Totoro,” “The Runaways,” “Coraline,” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and she made a nice addition to “The Equalizer 3.” And she’s photographed in a riveting sense by Eli Arenson. But the overall movie is a typical Shyamalan movie, whether it’s directed by the father or the daughter.
The worst performance comes from Finnegan, whose dialogue is cheesy and whose choices have to be idiotic. I’m surprised he never auditioned for a stoner comedy. And Campbell, who is a natural in horror films like “Barbarian” and “Lovely, Dark, and Deep,” is surprisingly insipid. I would take Fouere’s supporting role over those two, because at least she tries to deal with their behaviors.
The creatures, and yes, the movie has creatures, are poorly conceived, compared to the sightless aliens with sensitive hearing in “A Quiet Place.” And their plot twist has something to do with the reality of who is the dominant species and who gets to run society.
And next up this summer is M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap.” Let’s see if it’s better, worse, or equal to “The Watchers.” I mean what did we really expect?