'The Watchers' review: Sleek supernatural thriller unravels within itself

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

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It’s a good time to be in the Shyamalan business. Aside from M. Night’s what looks to be intriguing “Trap” due out in August, which features songs by his daughter Saleka Shyamalan, we’re first treated to the directorial debut of his middle daughter, Ishana Shyamalan, with the adaptation of the bestselling A.M. Shine novel “The Watchers.” The Shyamalan brand is alive and well and if you’re watching “The Watchers” and think it’s something you may have seen before (the one that immediately comes to mind is “The Village”), maybe that’s by design, but the first time filmmaker isn’t afraid to hide her influences and there’s some truly, grounded filmmaking here that hints at a bright future behind the camera. 

In fact Shyamalan, who helped her father on his Apple series “Servent,” and worked second unit on “Knock at the Cabin,” has a steady hand at cultivating suspense and understands that less can sometimes be more, allowing the unseen to be far more terrifying than what we actually witness. It’s there where, in addition to some clunky dialogue and exposition dumps, lies the film's biggest issue in that some things are better left unsaid.

The movie follows Mina (Dakota Fanning) who, while on a work assignment to deliver a parrot to Belfast, gets stranded in an isolated forest that cuts off all electronic signals and renders her car useless. If only she had paid attention at the gas station prior to heading into the secluded area, she would’ve seen all the missing posters that basically say that people who venture into these woods don’t come back. This initial mystery is enough of a hook to get you invested in Mina’s journey, as does her eventual landing inside a metal shelter dubbed “The Coop” where, in the evening, three people (“Barbarian” actress Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegal, and Olwen Fouere) stand in front of a double sided mirror and are studied by creatures they call watchers.

Mina is quickly told the strict rules that must be abided by, including not going out after sunset, staying in pairs etc or else she’ll endure the wrath of the unseen creatures. It’s here where “The Watchers” cruises and Shaylaman shows poise as a filmmaker more than a writer. The monsters have a creepy stature (think if the tall, gangly mom from “Coraline” had a child with the monsters from “I Am Legend” and “A Quiet Place”) that gives the movie a certain feeling of urgency. But alas, once the mythology begins to unravel (not to mention the token Shyamalan third act twist), it’s like the kid letting out all the air inside the balloon. You almost wish the last thirty minutes of the movie could be cut, because then at least our imaginations could fill in the blanks and not whatever nonsensical dreck regarding ancient fairytales and Irish folklore we are spoon fed in one monologue after the next.

Still, there’s an elegance to admire in the way Shayamlan approaches her film. There are some gorgeous tracking shots of the Irish mountains and the claustrophobic paranoia within the woods (at least when we don’t know the creatures eventual motives) is palpable. Themes of duality, humanity, and the perils of good versus evil are generic and Fanning’s performance occasionally struggles to convey the reality of her situation, but “The Watchers,” though it might not stick the landing, is a decent rabbit hole to go down. Even if it’s just a stepping stone for the eventual filmmaking career Shayamlan hopes to produce. 

Grade: C+ 

THE WATCHERS is now playing in theaters.