The Watchers (2024), directed by Ishana Shyamalan, stars Dakota Fanning, Olwen Fouere, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer, and John Lynch. The film follows Mina (Fanning), a young artist traveling to visit her family in Northern Ireland who becomes lost in a mysterious forest. Eventually, she finds a shelter in the middle of the forest occupied by three strangers who are likewise lost. They quickly inform Mina that each night, they are stalked/watched by mysterious creatures who live in the forest. If they follow certain rules laid out by a professor who previously occupied the shelter, they can avoid being killed by the creatures. Unfortunately, following these rules also makes escaping from the forest impossible. As various secrets are revealed, Mina convinces the group attempting escape may be their only move. 

Although the film features a compelling premise, the performances struggle to elevate the material. Dakota Fanning is serviceable in the lead role but struggles to differentiate herself from similar horror movie protagonists. The script gives the character a solid amount of traumatic history but it never ultimately ties into her arc. It has the pieces of a strong character arc but never ties them together. As for the rest of the cast, Fouere does decent work as the film’s resident elderly character with a mysterious past, but unfortunately, Campbell and Finnegan don’t seem to understand the kind of movie they’re in. These two are extremely underwritten and at points feel like they act randomly because of it. In other words, they feel almost childlike in the sense that they seem to act completely on emotion (zero logic). Characters who rarely think are rarely likeable. This feeling of awkward characterization is only amplified when the script delivers exposition through scenes where characters speak out loud to themselves (i.e. speaking to the audience). It’s a really lazy way to deliver exposition that essentially just makes the audience say “People don’t talk like that.” Speaking of lazy exposition, it also features a cringeworthy voiceover that only makes the viewer roll their eyes. 

As promised in the trailers, the film features an effectively eerie premise that’s amplified by the misty forest setting and surprisingly disturbing creature design. On a technical level, it sports a level of admirable creativity. It’s often a silly experience, but it’s not one that I can say I’ve seen before. In this sense, the film feels similar to a lot of her father’s directorial efforts. 

The film often struggles to be scary and features weak jump scares that signal a rookie director. It’s also a tale of two halves. When the movie holds its cards close to its chest in the first half, it’s a compelling and eerie experience. When the film’s secrets are revealed, it seems to lose a lot of its forward momentum. In a sense, the answers we get just aren’t compelling enough to deliver on the promise of the mystery. On top of this, the third act also features a “stop, the start” structure that’s a bit subversive in terms of structure, but again hurts the pacing.

There’s also a real lack of thematic substance. The film’s premise begs to explore the dangers and/or thrills of voyeurism but immediately seems allergic to exploring any kind of underlying theme. If there was some thematic substance to any of the strange directions the film takes, they’d be more forgivable. Because we’re only asked to look at the events on a surface level, their weirdness isn’t as forgivable because it can’t be analyzed in multiple ways. It also ends with one of the most cliche “You don’t have to be alone anymore” speeches between hero and monster. It almost made my eyes roll out of my head it was so cliche.

Overall, this isn’t a good movie, but it sure isn’t a waste of time either. Its goofy elements are balanced by its attempts at originality even though most are admittedly silly. The acting is underwhelming and the direction is a bit amateurish, but I can’t say I hated the experience. That being said, it remains a very easy movie to make fun of. It toes the line between so goofy it’s bad and so goofy it’s fun. This essentially puts the movie into the  “forgettable” category even if I’d never describe it that way. C