THE WATCHERS

US, 2024, 102 minutes, Colour.

Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouere, Oliver Finnegan, John Lynch.

Directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan.

We are in the west of Ireland, an isolated forest, a young man stumbling through, climbing and falling from a tree, disappearing. Seems a reasonable start for an eerie terror film, drawing on some of the old tales of fairies, halflings, ancient folk living beneath the surface and emerging to frighten – even in the 21^st-century.

Dakota Fanning plays an American, Mina, working in a shop in Galway, running away from her sister and the memory of the death of her mother, full of guilt (shown later in the film with startling detail). When she drives to the edge of the forest, audiences will be, rightly, apprehensive. We have seen the signs, Point of No Return. Mina is lost but is urged by a strange old woman, Madeline (Olwen Fouere) to seek refuge in a mysterious concrete bunker there in the middle of the forest.

The film is based on a novel by A. M. Shine, from Western Ireland himself, intrigued by the stories of the strange folk, an academic who has pursued serious studies in writing on his themes. In fact, listening to Madeline explain herself and her research, instantly echoing the career of Shine. And, it emerges that there has been an academic investigating these themes, responsible for the bunker, leaving a lot of records of his research. In the flashbacks and videos, he is played by veteran Irish actor, John Lynch.

Mina finds two others in the bunker, the young man, Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) is one saw struggling in the opening and a young woman, Ciara (Georgina Campbell), who has been separated from her husband who keeps pounding on the door of the locked bunker. The four are trapped in the forest, cannot escape, forage in the forest, but also watch television programs in the bunker.

And, The Watchers themselves, eerie characters, sometimes glimpsed, skeletal, but frequently heard, especially when huge flocks of black birds fly overhead and swoop. And the drama as the audience sharing the mystery, the quest, the hopes for escape, with Mina.

For movie buffs and fans of writer-director, M. Night Shyamalan (remembering The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village), he is the producer here and the writer-director is his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, and she is certainly following her father’s lead, atmosphere, tone, mystery, suspense, and twists in final explanations.

1. Title and expectations? Eerie? The screenplay based on the novel by A.M.Shine? Themes and atmosphere?
2. The work of the director, in the footsteps of the career of her father?
3. Irish folklore, over the centuries, the strange people, fairies and variations, legendary stories, ghostly, frightening people, appearances and disappearances…?
4. The opening, Daniel in the forest, his age, alone, the Point of No Return signs, the night, as stumbling, climbing the tree, falling, the huge flock of birds? His disappearance?
5. Mina and her story, American, in Galway, running away, the later flashback of the drive, the girls, her wilfulness in the car, her mother, the crash and death? Phone calls from her sister? Working in the shop, going out on the town, the black wig, flirting? Job, the bird, the cage? Relationship with the bird? Driving through the forest?
6. The car breaking down, the signs, wandering, getting lost, the disappearance of the car, encountering Madeline, her urgency, the warnings? The audience sharing Mina’s bewilderment?
7. The bunker, finding Daniel, Ciara and the disappearance of her husband, the explanation of their being trapped, The Watchers, stage, the glass, the Watchers outside, observing the humans – and the motivation? The humans and their performance?
8. Beginnings of explanations, Madeline telling the stories, life in the bunker, hunting outside, food, and the irony of the television with the reality shows? Time passing? Discussions of escape?
9. John at the door, voice, the plea, resisting? The Watchers and their taking over the humans like John?
10. Mina and her daring, going down the hall, the rope, finding the bicycle and other equipment? The threats and destruction with the cycle?
11. The discovery of the basement, the technology, the computers, the files, the videos with Kilmartin explaining, his obsessions, research?
12. The escape plan, Madeline leading, running through the forest, the pursuit, getting out?
13. Mina and return to her flat, the escape, having Kilmartin’s files, going to the University, going to his office, taking the material, going to see Ciara, Madeline, the Watchers and their attempts to take over?
14. The explanations, Kilmartin, Madeline, part human, part Watches, the plan, on the women, the taking possession of the young girl, wandering the city of Galway, taking her stand outside the window? But Mina reunited with her family?
15. A film for the Irish audience, those intrigued by this kind of folk story and legend?