Ishana Shyamalan's The Watchers Is Max's Top 1 Movie, But Is It Even Worth Watching?
A famous last name does not always guarantee success.
The horror film The Watchers, the feature debut of Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, has been released on Max and immediately broke into the Top 1 most watched films on the platform. We tell you if the new horror movie from the daughter of the king of unexpected twists is worth seeing.
What Is The Watchers About?
Mina works in a pet shop in Ireland. She lost her mother 15 years ago, but still can't get over the loss, so she doesn't even answer her sister's phone calls. One day, her employer gives Mina a parrot and asks her to take it to the zoo in Belfast.
On the way, her car breaks down and she finds herself in an endless forest. There, Mina stumbles upon a strange hut with a huge glass wall. Three people already live in it: a man named Daniel, an elderly schoolteacher named Madeline, and a woman named Ciara.
Madeline explains that strange creatures, the Watchers, live in the forest. Every night they crawl out of their holes, approach the hut and watch the people inside through the glass wall, which is only transparent from the outside.
To survive, you have to follow simple rules: don't turn your back on the glass, don't leave the hut after sunset, and don't approach the Watchers' holes. Of course, Mina does not agree to live under the supervision of monsters – she plans to escape.
The Watchers Is Too Predictable and Clichéd
The Watchers use imagery from Celtic mythology and combine it with classic horror techniques. In theory, interesting ideas and a seemingly fresh perspective are shattered by genre stereotypes and predictability.
It is almost immediately clear what to expect from each of the four main characters: a boy with rough features, a young beauty, a gray-haired old woman, and a daring main character. And the final twist is not at all like similar tricks from M. Night Shyamalan films and is revealed to even the least attentive viewer in the first half of the movie.
It's surprising that a movie based on mythology has so few unique visual solutions. The mysterious creatures that live in the forest look like typical scary monsters with disproportionately long, deformed limbs and a thin torso – a bit like Slenderman.
The Watchers Is Not the Worst Folk Horror Movie Out There
But despite the clumsiness of what happens, the movie scares and frightens you, almost without resorting to techniques like screamers. The Watchers is not an exemplary representative of the genre, but neither is it the worst entertainment.
However, the main question of the movie remains: how did someone manage to build a bunker in the middle of a forest full of hostile creatures?