The Watchers Gets a Streaming Release Date on Max

Observersone of the biggest disappointments of the year in the horror genre, will be released on Max and will begin streaming next week on August 30. The film is directed by Ishana Night ShyamalanThe film had only a short theatrical run after Warner Bros. decided to release it in theaters on a wide scale, but it ultimately flopped after barely crossing the $33 million mark on a $30 million budget.

The film revolves around Mina (Dakota Fanning), a young American woman living in Ireland who is struggling to cope with the traumatic death of her mother. More than a decade after the tragic accident, Mina is estranged from her twin sister. While on an errand for her boss, Mina's car breaks down in the middle of the road, leaving her with no choice but to enter the woods, where she becomes lost.

What follows is Mina's encounter with three mysterious strangers who talk about the Watchers, ghostly creatures that live in the woods and for whom they must “pretend” every night. Mina joins the group in a bunker-like building with a massive two-way mirror that allows the Watchers to see in. Eventually, Mina grows tired and begins to ask questions, discovering the truth about the entities known as the Watchers.

Shyamalan also wrote: ObserversBased on the 2021 novel of the same name by A.M. Shine, the film features a stellar cast, including Fanning, Olwen Forey, Georgina Campbell, and Oliver Finnigan. It is produced by M. Night Shyamalan, who is backing his daughter’s directorial debut—a recent case of Hollywood favoritism that raised some eyebrows, especially when the film didn’t perform well at the box office.

The Watchers is a good example of style over substance in horror films.

Surprisingly, the film isn’t all bad. There’s a lot going for it: Abel Korzenowski’s score is very moving, the cinematography is some of the best in modern horror, and the acting is decent enough. But the end result is an unforgettable horror experience that demonstrates the director’s lack of the narrative techniques necessary to make a film feel out of character. What should have been a scary experience like “The Cabin in the Woods” tries too hard to be an existential horror film. Viewers will tire early on because of the lack of answers and resolutions.

It is impossible, of course, not to touch on the elephant in the room. The directorial debut of Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of director M. Knight, is a poor execution of the genre because it lacks narrative power. Her experience as a second unit director in old and Knock on the cabin It was clearly not enough to provide the knowledge necessary to make Observers A noteworthy horror film. Following in her father's footsteps, the younger Shyamalan attempts a last resort: a final surprise that doesn't quite work.