The Watchers
A young and emotionally tortured woman living in Ireland, Mina (Dakota Fanning), finds herself traveling across the small country to make delivery for her day job. On her way to Belfast, a car breakdown leaves her sidetracked and stranded in a strange and uncharted forest, now, getting home may be nothing but a dream, especially if the mysterious inhabitants of the woods have anything to say about it, but who are they, and what do they want?
Written by Ishana Shyamalan based on the short story by A.M. Shine and Directed by Shyamalan this serves as the Freshman attempt at directing for Shyamalan, the daughter of famed Director M. Night Shyamalan. And, like a chip off the old block, this mystical adventure with a mild twist serves as a great jumping off point for the young Director. Visually and auditorily Shyamalan has achieved what few can do right out of the gates, although, some CGI work in act three comes up a bit shy, the end result is a very watchable Teen/Young Adult style film that can be appreciated by older audiences just the same. And, save for some pacing issues in the final act, the overall story arc and is well played out, although the cardinal sin of narration to setup the mystery does kick the film off, grumble grumble. Regardless, at a brisk one hour and forty two minutes of runtime, the film makes sure it does not overstay its welcome, mostly…The Watchers is rated PG-13.