I am a big fan of the work of M. Night Shyamalan and when I heard that The Watchers was the work of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan I was very excited to check this out. While I am a fan of her father, I will be the first to admit, I tend to love his movies or not like them at all and that seems to be the case for most people. Thankfully, The Watchers shows that the very talented Ishana has the good traits that her father has.
How to Download The Watchers
The Watchers was released on June 7, 2024. You should expect to be able to download or stream the film from Max or another digital platform in about two months from its premiere. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like M. Night Shyamalan’s works, you should make sure to watch The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), or Lady in the Water (2006).
The Movie Review
In going to what I just said about M. Night Shyamalan, my wife is someone who is a bit iffy on his stuff. When I told my wife, The Watchers was made by his daughter, she said she didn’t want to go and see it! It was a hard sell, but after getting her to watch the trailer, she said ok and she actually liked it as much as I did.
Let me tell you, I am so glad I made the effort to watch this in the theatre. This was a lot of fun and while what you see in the trailer is pretty much 90 percent of what this movie is. It did have a few really cool surprises and when we find out what they actually are (a classic Shyamalan twist!) it never felt forced, out of left field, or anything like that, it worked and was awesome.
The Story
The story of The Watchers is about a young American woman called Mina. Mina lives in Ireland and she is tasked with delivering a bird. Mina has some heavy trauma from her mother’s death and she is kind of coasting through life. While driving through these remote woods, Mina’s car comes to a stop and she is stuck in the woods.
The Coop
It gets dark and the birds in the woods start to freak out and the ground shakes, a woman shows up and Mina runs after her, following her to a strange room called The Coop. It is inside this Coop, Mina learns that The Watchers demand the humans inside stand before the mirror and follow a set of rules. Breaking these rules will be met with the most extreme punishments.
There is no way out of these woods that they know of and being outside The Coop at night results in The Watchers ripping you apart. If you watch the trailer, that is pretty much what this movie is. We have four survivors who start to get a bit more antsy with each passing week and as things start to get really bad, they realize that they need to find a way to escape. It is then they realize that things are not what they seem.
Final Thoughts
I was really into what was going on here. However, right when you think things are over, we get a bit more and we find out some more cool stuff about these Watchers. It is all done very well and I would honestly love for there to be a sequel to this or even some kind of prequel as I love the world that they have set up here.
The Watchers was a very fun time, but sadly the critical reception has not been all that great and there were like five people max in the theatre watching it when I was. I have a feeling, this is not going to do all that well at the box office. However, I could see this finding its audience when it hits streaming. For me, this is a movie I will certainly be adding to my collection when it comes out on Blu-Ray or preferably a 4K.
