Ishana Night Shyamalan makes her directorial debut with the film The Watchers. The film is based on the book of the same name by A.M. Shine. Her father, who you might know, is also a producer of this film. The story follows a 28-year-old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. Finding shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are stalked by mysterious creatures every night.

Review

It may come as no surprise that given the setting of The Watchers, the film would focus its attention on Irish folklore. Even with this being Ishana Night Shyamalan’s first film, as a viewer I couldn’t help but prepare myself to compare her approach and style to that of her father in the same genre. His famous twists in the story have come with strong opinions (either for or against). I am happy to say that this stood out from that of her namesake with her approach and touch to the way we are introduced to The Watchers and just how much we are told throughout the film.

From a scare standpoint, Ishana Night Shyamalan laid out well-planned scares that didnt come off as cheesy or over the top.  However, the promising premise that the folklore, the creatures, and the setup lent itself to was left to rot on the vein. The writers spent too much time on exposition and repeating the same thing over and over. In the end, when we finally get to the meat of the reveals, it feels rushed and leaves us unsatisfied overall.

Still, so little folklore like this is given any real effort in Hollywood so it was a nice change of pace, even if it didn’t soar to the heights it had hoped for. Perhaps this will spur others to explore these stories more often which could lead to some fresh new ideas that Hollywood is desperately in need of.

The Watchers hits theaters Friday June 7th.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures