dir. Ishana Night Shyamalan
In The Watchers, Mina (Dakota Fanning) – through a rather specific set of circumstances involving delivering a parrot – finds herself lost in an Irish forest. She soon meets up with other humans in a bunker who are stuck there, all at the whim of “The Watchers”, mysterious creatures who murder anyone who breaks the rules. Or, it’s claimed – rules including “Don’t turn your back to the mirror” and “Don’t go out at night” are frequently broken with little to no consequence. The creatures’ mythology is explored but nothing is very interesting, let alone scary. A chief problem is none of the characters in The Watchers behave remotely like relatable human beings; most, including Mina, are blank slates changing their desires and motivations depending on what the plot next requires. “Plot” is a bit of an overstatement as not a lot happens, and the classic Shyamalan family favourite of a closing twist is pretty ineffectual. It’s the watchers of The Watchers who really suffer.
BMDb 