From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana Shyamalan, The Watchers has promising value. It displays a layout for terror where audiences would have to use their minds. It has a setting where the direction is unique. It has an area where terror may lead the audience to shiver. Sadly, it is not that amazing. Ishana’s dad produced the film. It feels like a film that was in her father’s direction. It is a tail of lacking components that lack surreal emotions.

Ishana’s father knows how to tie connections into his films. He does so in contrast to what is lost and found. There is that element tied into The Watchers. My conflict is how detrimental the film feels. There is confusion that begins at the top of the film.

The film focuses on Mina (played by Dakota Fanning). She is an artist trying to find her roots. She finds herself in Western Ireland. A car crash puts her in a forest that is in great danger. Mina is not alone. She finds shelter in a mysterious bunker with three other survivors. Those three characters are Madeline (played by Olwen Fouere), Ciara (played by Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (played by Oliver Finnegan). The bunker has a glass wall and an electronic light used for the night hours. Mina realizes that she is an additional one hiding from the creatures in the forest. They are called The Watchers. They rise above the ground. The bunker is the only place of shelter. How long can Mina, Madeline, Ciara, and Daniel hide though?

There is that element where noises bring the creatures to have powers. The Watchers feel repetitive, especially with a franchise already going along these lines with A Quiet Place. The Watchers take this direction with grains of salt to create a more euphoric atmosphere. It does not work well. It is a dynamic of four survivors putting together a puzzle as to why they are all stuck in the bunker.

I did not feel scared of The Watchers. I had a few moments where I jumped and was surprised. Even the tactics of the film,trying to be unsettling, did not feel that way either. The only moment where I was scared was by the creatures being seen as wendigos. That is what made me think the film is going in a fairytale aspect of scares. Its presentation was still lacking.

It is a thriller about continued boredom. The Watchers try to bring in all the evil for suspense with little explanation. It tries to blindside its audience in characterizations with misdirection of trust. There is that idea that one of the survivors may have a demonic side to what is going on. The logic is a mess surrounding the puzzle of The Watchers.

The idea is promising, but the quality is the problem. The Watchers feels like a blend of previous ideas from previous projects thrown into a film of just over ninety minutes. Some may enjoy its plot, some may be confused, and some may find it hit or miss. Two out of four stars for The Watchers.