THE WATCHERS (2024)
Label: WBDHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG-13
Duration: 101 Minutes 43 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD) 7.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision (HDR10) 2160p Ultra HD (1.85:1)
Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, Oliver Finnegan
Mina (Dakota Fanning, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood) is a 28-year-old American living in Ireland, where she works at a pet store. One day she is assigned to travel to Belfast to deliver a rare yellow parrot to a Zoo, but enroute she becomes stranded on a road in an ancient forest. Seeking help she wanders into the forest and becomes hopelessly lost, but encountering an old woman Madeline (Olwen Fouéré, Tarot) who leads her to a concrete bunker nicknamed The Coop. There she meets it's other inhabitants of the bunker, twenty-somethings Ciara (Georgina Campbell, Bird Box Barcelona), and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan, Outlander). We learn that the three of them much like Mina became lost in the woods and ended up at this place, that there are mysterious nocturnal creatures lurking in the forest that emerge from a labyrinth of burrows below the ground, and that they can never be outside the bunker at night, or they will be killed by the creatures they call "The Watchers", who observe them through mirrored window of the Coop each night. There are other rules to follow as dictated by Madeline who has been there the longest and the consequences of breaking the rules, we actually see a prologue where Ciara's husband John (Alistair Brammer) is caught in the woods after dark trying to make a break to get outside of the forest, it doesn't end well for him.
This wooded folk horror is the directorial feature-length debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, who also produced it. The fruit did not fall far from the tree, she has that same preoccupation with fairytales and twists as her father, and her film debut is quite a fascinating watch I like the building of the mythology around the creatures, the modern day fairytale aesthetic, and it looks absolutely lovely, the deep and expansive Irish forests is a wonderful setting, and the creatures which are slowly revealed are quite creepy. That concrete bunker is such a mysterious locations, I kept wondering who bult it, for what purpose, and if it would ever be explained. Well, it is explained, when a secret sub-bunker is located and we are introduced through video journals of it's creator, a Professor Kilmartin (John Lynch, Hardware) who lays out quite a bit of expository info dumps. I thought lynch did well in the role, there's a lot of interesting information spilt, but also a lot of it totally head-scratching backstory about the building of the bunker, and this is where the facade the fairytale sort of starts to peel back and started to fall apart for me.
I won't spoil it anymore other than to say I liked it, I did not love it. I think it's a confident debut film for the young Ishana Night Shyamalan, who here channels a bit of The Village by way of Lady in the Water, while still offering something fairly original and of it's own merit. It's not a perfect film, I think there are too many elements broadcast in advance or that just fall apart under scrutiny when you think about for a moment or two, but I liked it well enough, it just doesn't quite stick the landing, but for a feature film debit quite wonderful. The cast is also quite good, Dakota Fanning is likable but scarred by a childhood trauma that we see in flashbacks, I also thought Olwen Fouéré was quite a mysterious presence, having seen her in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Mandy, and Tarot, this is perhaps the meatiest role I have seen her in and she's pretty terrific. The look of fairy-folk creatures is also terrific, and the wooded setting it fertile for such a tale, so if you like folk horror and supernatural chillers there's quite a bit to like about The Watchers, I say give it a watch, just know your milage may vary, and keep in mind it's PG-13, there's no gore or blood really, just loads of atmosphere and some decent tension, and of course the patented Shyamalan twists.
Audio/Video: The Watchers (2024) arrives in region-free 4K Ultra HD from WBDHE, presenting the digital shot film in 2160p UHD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Vision (HDR10) WCG color-grading. It's a largely a pleasing looking image, plenty of crisp detail and refinement on display, the greens of the overhead shots f the Irish forest look stunning, and black levels are strong, that yellow parrot looks quite striking as well. I did find that the interior forest shots at night are less adept, there's a dimness to these scenes that I found displeasing. I did not catch this one at the cinema so this could very well be a stylistic choice. Audio comes by way of Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with optional English subtitles. This flick has some nice creepy sound design, plenty of creature chittering in the surrounds, dialogue sounds fine, and the creepy score by Abel Korzeniowski (The Nun) is well-served.
Extras include the 9-min Welcome to the Show: The Making of The Watchers; the 5-min Creating The Watchers; 6-min Constructing the Coop; 4-min Ainriochtán and the Irish Fairy Folklore; and the 9-min Deleted Scene: Lair of Love. The single-disc UHD release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, a Slipcover, and a redemption code for a Digital Copy of the film.
Special Features:
- Welcome to the Show: The Making of The Watchers (8:50)
- Creating The Watchers (5:02
- Constructing the Coop (6:16)
- Ainriochtán and the Irish Fairy Folklore (4:22)
- Deleted Scene – Lair of Love (9:29)
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