A young woman is trapped in a mysterious forest in the Irish countryside after a pet delivery gone wrong. She encounters three strangers who offer her shelter but is stalked each night by horrid creatures who watch her every move. Can she survive? 

“The Watchers,” Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut, was released June 7. Being the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, filmmaker behind blockbuster hits such as “Split” and “The Sixth Sense,” she has large shoes to fill. 

“The Watchers” had a budget of $30 million, but only made a modest $33 million at the box office, reflecting its overall lukewarm and divisive reception from critics and casual watchers alike. It received a meager 32% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film opens with overhead shots of the wilderness and a brief description of the legend surrounding the forest. It then cuts to a man being chased, running in circles as flocks of crows swoop and dive at him, before he is attacked and snatched away. The dark ambient lighting and muted scoring make for a delightfully chilling scene. 

The cinematography and environmental storytelling are something to behold, creating an intricate and immersive world full of secrets you can blink and miss. They say one should show, not tell when writing a story, advice which “The Watchers” follows to a T, almost to a fault. 

However, what it has to show is great, but it doesn’t always show what it should and tells far too little to truly be an engaging story in this format. The viewer is given very little to work with throughout the film, and is  spoon-fed little bits of exposition at a time, forcing us  to string everything together ourselves. 

The movie fails to introduce plot points and lore and establish characters properly. I found this to be a major issue, not even knowing what was going on at times. No attempt is made to catch the watcher up. Scenes abruptly start and stop like staccato and things just spontaneously happen with no rhyme or reason. Backstory and plot details are introduced essentially out of nowhere.  The disjointed pacing combined with the lack of context for many major plot points makes watching tedious. 

While suspense is one thing “The Watchers” does well, there’s a lack of release that makes it all seem pointless.

Rotten Tomatoes top critic Tim Cogshell said, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree… But I wish that apple rolled down the hill just a wee little bit.” And I couldn’t agree more. 

“The Watchers” has so much potential, an intriguing premise and a great team behind it, but just doesn’t utilize these assets effectively. The movie’s issues are not helped by the fact that the filmmakers drop an exposition bomb towards the end of the film. All of the details that were previously needed (and some that weren’t) are revealed at once in a hamfisted way that is overwhelming and frustrating. 

For example, it’s casually revealed that one of the main characters is related to another who is the driving force behind the reveal of what the watchers are, and barely anything is done with this. We are treated like we’ve known this already when it hasn’t come up even once. Dialogue and twists are few and far between and for the most part, poorly written.

“The Watchers” has its shortcomings, but is not entirely bad by any means.

The cinematography and camerawork are beautiful, with moody, intimate closeups and breathtaking landscape shots that sprawl as far as your screen can capture.  The scoring and soundtrack are well done, capturing exactly what they need to. 

The setting is perfect for capturing the eerie ambiance required. I also enjoyed the mythological aspects and creature design, even if they both could have been implemented better. While the movie has a PG-13 rating, it doesn’t downplay itself or baby the viewer when it comes to its scares or its content, making it perfect for a movie night with family or otherwise. Dakota Fanning’s performance was commendable, especially considering how little she had to work with. She’s exceptional at capturing the raw terror and emotion her character felt. 

In conclusion, while “The Watchers” doesn’t provide the most compelling story, it’s worthwhile for casual fans who don’t prioritize plot.