THE WATCHED

The Watched (or The Watchers elsewhere in the world) is the directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan.

Stranded in rural Ireland, and already battling her own internal trauma, Mina (Dakota Fanning) finds shelter with three mysterious strangers in “The Coop”. Unfortunately this is far from a safe haven, as when night descends they - The Watched - are observed by creatures unknown - The Watchers.

For a debut film, the direction here is excellent. Ishana Night Shyamalan is clearly a student of film, and expertly manages to build tension, not only in the premise of the film, but also amongst our cast of players, people who have been thrown together by cruel circumstance and between whom trust is starting to wane.

Trapped with Mina we have Madeline (Olwen Fouéré) an ex-University researcher and de-facto leader of the group, Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) a potentially volatile and erratic young man, and Ciara (Georgina Campbell) a young woman whose husband, John, left their shelter days before in an attempt to escape.

Shyamalan uses these interpersonal relationships to good effect, further adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere with The Coop. What is outside may be a mystery, but those inside are very much real and as the days and months pass, the possibility of an implosion becomes greater.

The setting and the cinematography are also extremely well put together. There are some beautiful shots of rural Ireland, and the forest in which they find themselves, and its almost never-ending quality, help to increase the feeling that escape is impossible. 

There are a couple of well put together jump scares throughout, however The Watched is not a film that relies on that. Instead of being overtly terrifying, it succeeds in creating a growing and visceral sense of unease. The horror begins to rise slowly from within you, rather than overtly overly relying on cheap tricks.

The Watchers themselves work really well is an unseen villain. In the first two acts where there are either off camera, or glanced briefly in the shadows, they are a really compelling threat. The questions of who or what they are, what they want and why they are watching their prisoners, a really engaging mystery.

The problem with them is that they work far better off screen than they do on it. In the final act where the answers are revealed, and the creatures step into the light, it doesn’t hold together anywhere near as well.

And this is mainly down to the CGI. I suspect that The Watched was made on a relatively low budget, and therefore there wasn’t the excess cash leftover for their design, but when we finally do see them up close… it’s underwhelming.

There are also some issues with the script here. The dialogue can be a little raw, some of the story telling a little “Basil Exposition”, and the seeding of the twist (it’s a Shyamalan family film, of course there’s a twist) heavy handed. 

There are also some moments which just come across as a little silly, for example when the film opens with the phrase “There is a forest in Ireland that will never appear on any map”, yet not 10 minutes later Mina’s SatNav is driving her right through it.

But Ishana Night Shyamalan has plenty of time to work on her script writing. These are mistakes that come with the territory of being a young writer, and there are plenty of reasons to think she will go on to produce better screenplays.

Being just 24 years old, and the daughter of prominent Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan, there have been perfectly valid cries of nepotism directed towards Ishana, however with The Watched she shows that she also has the talent to back her up.

It is uneven and imperfect, and there are definite issues with the script, however she also has an adeptness behind the camera that is rarely seen in somebody so young, and her ability to create a  creepy atmosphere and a growing sense of unease is unquestionable.

She is, almost certainly, one to watch.