The Watchers Is The Creepiest Idea We’ve Seen In Ages, See The Proof
When people complain that there are no fresh cinematic ideas in Hollywood, we always remind them to simply watch more horror movies. A case in point is the new teaser trailer for The Watchers, a new spooky film from Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of legendary horror guru M. Night Shyamalan (he is also a producer on this movie). As you can tell from the trailer below, the film involves a young woman who gets stranded in Ireland and must deal with the menacing mystery of strangers who come out every night to witness her every move.
The trailer for The Watchers explains nothing and has viewers questioning everything.
If you’re like us, you hate trailers that practically give the entire film away. Fortunately, this teaser trailer for The Watchers puts the emphasis on “teaser:” we get just enough of the film’s premise to appreciate the creeping dread permeating every scene. But we don’t get to know enough about the titular watchers to understand their real purpose or desire, which means all we can do is bask in the horror of our protagonist.
The plot of The Watchers is a secret, but it’s an adaptation of a book by A.M. Shine.
Speaking of which, Dakota Fanning plays the protagonist of The Watchers. Horror fans may remember her for her memorable performance in the largely overlooked spooky 2005 film Hide and Seek. She also starred in the horror-adjacent film Tom Cruise vehicle War of the Worlds as well as the fan-favorite animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, in which she voiced the titular character.
While the exact details of The Watchers remain shrouded in mystery, Coraline fans may notice some slight parallels. For example, Coraline Jones finds herself in a parallel world she soon discovers is filled with doppelgängers of her own friends and family, and those doubles prove deadly. In the teaser for The Watchers, we only see the backs of most of the watchers’ heads, but the character, played by Dakota Fanning, seems to be interacting with a mysterious double of herself that mirrors her every move.
The Watchers is the directorial debut for Ishana Night Shyamalan.
Heightening the tension of The Watchers is that we mostly learn about the film’s antagonists through the lens of other characters. For example, one of the strangers, Dakota Fanning’s character, links up with creepyily promises that “they’ll be very interested in someone new,” an assertion that proves to be true when these voyeuristic creatures begin their inhuman applause for her. As for Fanning’s character, she wants answers as to what these creatures are, but based on the poor soul we see them drag to his apparent death, those answers will come at a cost.
Some cinematic snobs have questioned whether director Ishana Night Shyamalan can deliver the spooky goods as well as her famous father does, and some have openly wondered if she is a “nepo baby” simply riding dad’s coattails. Only time will tell whether The Watchers ends up being as good as, say, The Sixth Sense. However, based on how much this teaser made our skin crawl, we think this director might just be the new rising star in the horror world.
