The Watchers is a horror/thriller about American ex-pat Mina(Dakota Fanning) living in Ireland and working at a pet shop. On a delivery to a zoo she breaks down in a mysterious woods. She meets Ciara(Georgina Campbell), Madeline(Olwen Fouéré), and Daniel(Oliver Finnegan) all of whom have similarly been lost and spend their nights in a bunker on display for the unknown creatures who prevent them from leaving.
Its great to see Fanning once again as the lead, she's always had presence but in her age she's become more robust as an actor able to play more intricately with subtlety and emotion. She's a joy to watch and she works wonders against the poorly written, predictable script. Fouéré, a treasure, also gives a performance that elevates the material, she's always captivating to watch and her late career mainstream success is a benefit to us all. Campbell and Finnegan don't fair as well, they have talent, but are unable to really extricate or differentiate themselves from the awkward thudding nature of the dialogue.
The movie looks slick, the bunker set particularly is evocative, the creature design once they are reveled is cool, the soundtrack effective. Its just the script. The pacing and tone are off, the dialogue unnatural and exposition heavy. There's a great movie in here, no question, there is simply a confusion as to its purpose. There's too much fat, it meanders when it should thrust. Its unfocused. It takes too long at the beginning to set up the situation, it rushes through the middle where all of the tension and character development should be, and then it ends derivatively, twice. Writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan has talent but, like her father, her screenwriting abilities are questionable.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
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