Writer director M. Night Shyamalan burst onto the scene where he captured the attention of audiences with his hit film The Sixth Sense and has since brought a variety of his visions to the big screen. Now his daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan is making her directorial debut with the film The Watchers starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré and Oliver Finnegan with M. Night producing. Could her vision be something worth watching or will it get lost in the woods?
 

The Watchers follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers that are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

I found the mystery of it all in the trailer to be engaging and curious if it was going to be more of a rehash of M. Nights stylings or if Ishana could find her own voice. The film does a great job initially of creating something engaging and intriguing but does lose its steam in the third act.

The story is great, bringing more questions than answers which I love typically, but it also needs to give you something to work with. When it finally decides to fill us in, it isn’t all that exciting.
 

I didn’t mind the initial reveal and secrets that they bring to the forefront, but it falls into a predictable angle that is supposed to be the big twist that most will see a mile away. The performances are good across the board, bringing depth to the mystery they are developing. At the same time there are multiple bad decisions that are frustrating like most films in this genre. Usually I can let them go, but when they are obviously in the wrong direction it just gets more annoying.
 

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