There are rules for the captivity. Because of course there are. There are always rules. “Don’t feed them after midnight” didn’t make the cut. Awwww.
The Irish woodland is the setting for many amazing and foul creatures, some of whom might appear as The Watchers, a group seriously in need of cable. Mina (Dakota Fanning) brought a parrot. Well, that’s gonna be a hit with the jailors, huh?
I should back up. The film begins with a random man in random Irish woods trying to escape in a random direction from a random unknown. He passes a marker that says: “POINT OF NO RETURN 108.” What does that mean? I guess we’ll find out.
200 wooded yards later, he passes another marker that says: “POINT OF NO RETURN 108.” What does that mean? I guess we’ll find out. He is attacked and presumably killed.
Meanwhile, in another film, Mina is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of her mother’s death with a cross-country parrot delivery trip. Her car breaks down in the middle of an Irish forest and she makes the unbelievably poor move of going into the forest itself for help. She passes another of these “POINT OF NO RETURN” markers (Not #108) and we are all struck with curiosity when she spies and
follows a mysterious old woman, Madeline (Olwen Fouéré), back to “The Coop,” a one-room building with a two-way mirror for one wall. It’s like the room itself is one big television for outside viewers. In The Coop are fellow prisoners Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan). They’ve all been there a while. Who knows how long?
The folks are captives, free to walk in the day, but they better be back by nightfall (that’s one of the rules). The exist to entertain their wardens. All four prisoners line up for inspection every night not unlike standard penitentiary protocol. The Watchers don’t take kindly to pushback. What does it all mean? Where does it all end?
Written and directed by Ishana Shyamalan (daughter of M. Night), The Watchers is so similar to an M. Night Shyamalan film that it is impossible to imagine dad didn’t have a hand in this somewhere. Like father, Ishana has proven adept at mystery, deception, and – most especially- world-building. A one-room cage in the middle of a forest is a fantastic setting for horror. It is impossible not to love the added touch of Mina keeping her own caged bird (how do they feed it? Heck how do they feed themselves?) to mirror their own captivity. And, like father, Ishana has -in one film- proven to have a propensity for mushy, half-assed conclusions. I imagine that’s the inspiration for the underwhelming imdb response. I won’t go there; I think this was a wonderful first effort and I’m excited to see another Shyamalan take the reins. I hope she finds her own unique voice in time.
There was once a struggling immigrant named Mina
Career, life, relationships, she’s in-between-a
She got lost in the wild
A conundrum un-mild
For every night, she’s now act one in the arena
Rated PG-13, 102 Minutes
Director: Ishana Shyamalan
Writer: Ishana Shyamalan, A.M. Shine
Genre: Fishbowl politics
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of psychological horror
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Misunderstood fair folk
