I have traveled to a few different countries in my life with mixed experiences. One of my favorites is Ireland, where I had the great experience of staying in the coastal town of Kilkee. The ocean was beautiful, the people were friendly, and the “real Irish” Guinness was the best beer I have ever had. It is one country I would like to see again, and The Watchers takes place there.
Directed by Ishana Shyamalan (Servant), the cast includes Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouere and Oliver Finnegan and centers on Mina (Fanning), who is just getting by in life by working at a pet store in Ireland while trying to deal with her past. When she is given a job to transfer a pet, she winds up stranded in a secluded area in the woods. After getting lost, she meets up with Ciara (Campbell), Daniel (Finnegan) and Madeline (Fouere), who live in those the woods. Mina founds out she is stuck in a situation where during the day they are safe outside but at night they can only survive the deadly creatures called “the watchers” by staying in the structure where they live. They are too far from civilization to make it out of the forest in a day and will end up in danger if they get too far away from the structure at night. Now, decisions must be made for all of them.
The look of this film is spot on for the mood. The locations are incredible and the made me feel like I was in the mountains back home in Wyoming while actually being filmed in Ireland. Since most of the film takes place in the structure itself, it did become a character in its own sense. With basically just four actors in the cast, they all do a great job with Fanning holding her own as the lead. However, my shout out goes to Fouere, who plays the mother like and wise lady who tries to keep things from falling apart.
The Watchers reminds me of the TV series From but is nowhere as good as it. The filmmakers tried changing a few different plot points, but it just didn’t work for the film. At about one hundred minutes, it did not seem too long for the plot that was given, but a few scenes honestly could have been cut. The man storyline is not too complicated and kept me interested, but the last twenty minutes gets a little too out there to the point where I had a hard time trying to understand where it was going with a “surprise” ending that I saw a mile away. Overall, The Watchers is one that I can only recommend watching this film at home in cable network showing.
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