THE WATCHED
**
Directed by Ishana Shyamalan.
Starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouere.
Horror, US, 102 minutes, certificate 15.
Released in cinemas in the UK by Warner Bros on 7th June
Making her debut as a film director, Ishana Shyamalan may have a lot more to prove than any other director making their first film. The shadow that her father casts is a long one and setting her stall out in the same field genre wise is sure to draw comparisons, whether warranted or not. Whether intentional or not, THE WATCHED, undergoing a slight title change in the UK from THE WATCHERS, its original US title taken straight from A.M. Shine’s source novel does share a large number of similarities with her fathers work. Sadly those similarities only recall the less successful aspects of Shyamalan Snr.
Set in Ireland, we follow American expat Mina, a quiet and withdrawn young woman living in a small town hanging out in various bars pretending to be someone else. Working in a pet shop by day, her delivery of a bird across the country takes a sinister turn when she loses herself in a vast forest. Searching for a way out she comes across a concrete structure where a trio of individuals rush her in for her own safety. Before she can ask what is going on she is commanded to stand in front of a large window for an unseen and seemingly malevolent audience. Unable to escape, Mina is forced along with the elder Madeline, Clara and teenager Daniel to undergo this mysterious ritual every night while trying to discover the secret of her elusive captors.
The intriguing premise is at least matched by its gloomy and wintry atmosphere. There is also an interesting attempt to match its 21st century preoccupation with self perception and digs at reality television with its eventual slide into mythic folk horror. This is all pushed gracelessly aside in favour of a series of plot revelations that triggers a landslide of exposition which is clumsily executed and highly unsatisfying.
While the folk horror label can be applied to its plot, Ishana Shyamalan fails to bring anything fresh to the sub-genre. She also fails to bring any tension to the film and manages somehow to make the characters months long torment of survival about as desperate as a weekend away in an ill-equipped caravan.
While a number of risks are taken that could have elevated the film to something more unique the end product feels more of a piece with her fathers more maligned projects such as the much ridiculed LADY IN THE WATER than his more successful efforts. But at the same time let us not forget M. Night Shyamalan also made a less than inspiring debut with such now forgotten efforts as PRAYING WITH ANGER and WIDE AWAKE before knocking it out of the park in spectacular fashion with THE SIXTH SENSE. Perhaps Ishana Shyamalan has something similar in store with her own future work when she discovers her own unique voice and style.
Iain MacLeod
