A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Watched” (2024).
Alternative title in other geographies: The Watchers.
“The Watched” (or “The Watchers”) is the debut feature of Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of course of famous director M. Night Shyamalan. And the film has Shyamalan fingerprints all over it! And like the proverbial curate’s egg, it was good in places.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Mina (Dakota Fanning) is an artist in Galway, doing work in a pet-shop on the side to make money. She is estranged from her twin-sister due to something from her past. When she is tasked with transporting a parrot to a zoo in Belfast, her sat-nav takes her through a spooky wood in West Ireland. When her car fails her, she does what every right thinking American would do…. she walks into the spooky woods and into fearful danger.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong horror”)
Talent:
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Olwen Fouéré, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer, John Lynch.
Directed by: Ishana Shyamalan.
Written by: Ishana Shyamalan. (From a story by A.M. Shine.)
Twitter Handle: #TheWatchers.
Running Time: 1h 42m.
“The Watched” Summary:
Positives:
- Decent character introduction for Mina.
- The first two reels deliver on a spooky and claustrophobic feel.
- Both Dakota Fanning and Georgina Campbell do a great job.
Negatives:
- The ending really disappointed me.
- I wasn’t impressed with Olwen Fouéré.
Review of “The Watched”:
For most of the film, this had legs
Although it is horribly familiar territory of something lurking in the woods, in the main, the movie delivered for me. After a very shonky prologue, the film took its time in introducing us to Mina, a girl who is almost running away from herself by adopting disguises and false credentials. As a supposedly intelligent woman, I got to roll my eyes as she incomprehensibly wandered off from the car/road… but, hey, the story needed it. Once we got into the ‘coop’, the story was bordering on ludicrous, but I went with it. At one point, it went positively “Lost”-like, which I enjoyed very much.
Great female leads
I was very impressed by the performances of the two female leads: Dakota Fanning as Mina and (particularly) Georgina Campbell as Ciara. Yes, it was the traditional running and screaming, but the pair did it very well. (Campbell looks SO familiar to me, but my review of her IMDB history drew a blank.) Dakota Fanning’s Mina assumes a leadership position, despite her fear, and makes for a strong female role model.
Unfortunately, I was less impressed by Olwen Fouéré who plays the matriarchal character within the ‘coop’. I heard Mark Kermode on his recent ‘Take’ podcast generally praising the actress, but I found her performance bordering on over-acting.
“P.S. don’t fuck up the landing”.
So, I was generally enjoying this yarn right through to deep into the third reel. But I really disliked what Shyamalan did with the ending. As this is a Shyamalanny film, there’s obviously a twist. But (no spoilers) once the twist is revealed we get a ludicrous action ending tacked on that doesn’t make much sense. If they had done an ending like “Ex Machina” (if you’ve seen both films, you will probably get the analogy), I would have been much happier. I’d have preferred 92 minutes of that rather than the 102 minutes that we got.
Summary Thoughts on “The Watched”
For a film of this type, it’s not half bad. I just wish the ending had been better. I look forward to sampling more of Ms. Shyamalan’s output in future years.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Watched”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ncx35nHkgA :
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