Warning: major “The Watchers” spoilers.

The Watchers hasn’t been well-received by critics so far, but it’s a lot better than what its current Rotten Tomatoes score suggests. 2024 has an interesting variety of horror movies coming up, from original stories to sequels and remakes and adaptations of other works, as well. Falling into the latter category is The Watchers, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and based on the 2022 novel of the same name by A. M. Shine. The Watchers takes the audience to Ireland to follow American immigrant Mina (Dakota Fanning), who works in a pet shop and is tasked with delivering a parrot.

When her car breaks down and she becomes stranded in a vast forest, Mina is found by an old woman named Madeline (Olwen Fouéré), who takes her to a bunker-like shelter with a mirrored glass wall. There, Mina meets two other occupants and learns there’s a monstrous group of creatures who come out at night and observe them through the glass. Despite its cast and a promising premise, The Watchers hasn’t been well-received by critics, with a very low Rotten Tomatoes score so far, which doesn’t do any justice to the movie’s quality, message, and more.

The Watchers’ Cast Help Deliver Compelling Characters

The Watchers’ Has A Solid Cast

At the time of writing, The Watchers has a 32% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with most criticism going towards the script, the movie’s mix of tones, and M. Night Shyamalan’s role as producer. However, The Watchers is better than what its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score suggests, and its biggest strength is the performances of its main cast. Fanning excelled as Mina, who, as the movie progresses, becomes a more and more layered character as it’s revealed that she carries a lot of trauma related to her family.

Mina goes from a young woman out of touch with her emotions to finally addressing her trauma and making peace with her past and family, while also opening herself to connecting with others, as she did with Madeline, Ciara (Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) during their time at the forest. Fouéré is also a strong presence in The Watchers, with her performance as the tough yet sensitive Madeline, the member of the group who had spent the most time in the forest and who knew the most about its creatures, who they called “Changelings”.

Campbell’s Ciara serves as the grounding character for the rest, despite having lost her husband after he left the bunker to find a way out of the forest, and Finnegan’s Daniel, while immature at times, brought a lot of heart to the group, though that also led to his demise. The cast carries The Watchers as most of the movie happens inside the bunker and in the forest, and as the Changelings don’t appear until later in the movie, the cast does an excellent job of leading the audience and making them care about them and root for them through it all.

Ishana Night Shyamalan Shows Promise As A Horror Director

The Watchers Is Ishana Night Shyamalan’s Directorial Debut

Critics have also been quite hard on Ishana Night Shyamalan, as The Watchers is her first movie. However, the heavy criticism isn’t because it’s her first directorial debut, but because her father, M. Night Shyamalan, served as producer, and to many critics, his presence can be felt throughout The Watchers. While Ishana Night Shyamalan surely counted on her father’s guidance in her first movie, most critics are diminishing her first directorial efforts. Ishana Night Shyamalan has positioned herself as a promising horror director with The Watchers, making a horror movie that feels both claustrophobic and expansive.

Even with its twists and reveals that inevitably drew comparisons to those in her father’s movies, Ishana Night Shyamalan delivered a consistent horror movie that doesn’t lose its pace even after those twists, something that many horror movies fail at. Of course, there’s more to see from Ishana Night Shyamalan as director, but The Watchers is a great start.

The Watchers Is About More Than The Big Twist

The Watchers Has A Deeper Meaning

The big twist in The Watchers has gotten the most attention, mainly due to comparisons to those in M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, but The Watchers is a lot more than its big twist, which only enhances the movie’s main message. The Watchers is not just about creatures from Irish folklore and the characters finding a way out of the forest, but it’s also a horror/drama about humanity, grief, love, and what being human means.

The Watchers reveals Madeline is also a Changeling, though a halfling, as she is a human/Changeling hybrid, the first one to get out of the forest thanks to Mina and Ciara, and who wants revenge on humans. However, as Mina points out, Madeline showed humanity when she protected her, Ciara, and Daniel in the bunker when the Changelings almost broke the mirror glass, proving she’s capable of empathy and love.

The Watchers is also about being vulnerable enough to be yourself and make peace with your past by addressing trauma. The Watchers is more than a horror movie with a big twist, and its Rotten Tomatoes score shouldn’t define its overall quality.