The Watchers review: Ishana Night Shyamalan's wobbly horror baby steps

There’s a simplicity to writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan’s feature debut, The Watchers, an adaptation of the novel by A.M. Shine. The horror fairy...

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of A.M. Shine’s 2021 horror novel is like watching paint dry.

In moody but conventional horror film from Ishana Night Shyamalan — daughter of M. Night — Dakota Fanning plays the prisoner of mysterious creatures in t...

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film, The Watchers, shows great potential in the horror genre.

Adapting A.M. Shine’s novel, writer-director Ishana Night Shyamalan doesn’t go for the throat with “The Watchers.” Will audiences respond?

Like her dad M. Night’s recent output, Ishana Shyamalan’s feature-directing debut fails to engage.

The filmmaker doesn’t seem interested in departing from the style of her father.

'The Watchers' features a fascinating story and gorgeous cinematography, but suffers from an over-stuffed script and shaky final act.

Read Empire's review of Ishana Night Shyamalan's moody horror – also known as The Watchers in the US and elsewhere.

Our verdict is in!

Fanning plays a haunted woman who gets trapped in an Irish forest with three strangers and a parrot.

From its high-concept premise & elegant direction to its clunky dialogue and twist, "The Watchers" continues the Shyamalan family brand in every way.

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Manuel Betancourt and Tim Cogshell review the latest releases on FilmWeek.

The week's new titles for streaming, VOD and physical media include documentaries about shark attacks, boxing and a zany re-creation of Beanie Baby mania.

The film's first-time director, Ishana Night Shyamalan, has a family history of summoning genre menace — and also, unfortunately, a penchant for twist endi...

Ishana Night Shyamalan's film debut is here with the mystery-thriller "The Watchers," but did she inherit her father's knack for compelling stories and twists?

Seeking something scary?

The folk-horror genre welcomes a young new voice in the director Ishana Night Shyamalan, but she’s singing a familiar old tune.

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film is a twisty, high-concept mystery/dark fairy tale. It’s also a pale imitation of her father’s patented style.

M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana puts some striking images on screen, in a story that fizzles out fast

The Watchers, the feature debut of director IshanaNight Shyamalan, has the goods to assemble a compelling trailer. Sadly, itlacks the goods to make a compell...

Lots of ambition but little finesse.

It isn’t scary, with even the best-engineered “gotchas” landing flat. Kind of a big deal when you’re making a horror film. It’s joyless and humorle...

Writer-director Ishana Shyamalan gives us a cabin in the woods, four prisoners and something wicked programming its own supernatural Reality TV show.

A young woman takes an unfortunate detour deep into a mysterious Irish forest only to find that not only can't she make her way out again, but something ...

Ishana Night Shyamalan's horror movie The Watchers is uneven in its story, but boasts some fine filmmaking. Here's our review.

Starring Dakota Fanning, the Irish shows Ishana has inherited M. Night Shyamalan’s taste for tinkering with the unseen.

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film, The Watchers, finds a careful balance between the freaky and the mundane.

“The Watchers” is the directorial debut of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana. It starts off promising, but, in the family tradition, ends on shaky ...

If anything could revive the worn-out nepotism discourse, it would be this summer's horror offerings. In August we have M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming thrille...

Shyamalan 2.0 takes a big swing into dark fairy tale territory, but the results are punishingly boring

Writer-director Ishana Night Shyamalan’s movie can be appreciated more for its sinister look and mood than for its story.

Dakota Fanning stars in the horror movie "The Watchers," the directorial debut of filmmaker Ishana Shyamalan.

Dakota Fanning stars in Ishana Night Shyamalan's glossy woodland horror thriller. The twist? The film is more promising than good.

M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter makes her directorial debut with a horror movie about reality TV and the strange creatures that watch it.

Ishana Night Shyamalan has big things ahead of her, hopefully including some storytelling lessons.