Director Ishana Night Shyamalan weaves fantasy and horror together in her feature debut, The Watchers, and takes us on a mystery deep within the forests of Ireland. “The movie is very much a journey of uncovering this mystery—figuring out who these creatures are and what they want. Why are they being watched?”
To set the stage where the mysterious Watchers can observe the trapped individuals, Shyamalan started to formulate the look of the coop. “The coop is such an intriguing place, and it gave us so much to play with and think about when designing the build. In essence, it’s an observatory, but it works two ways—you are looking out, but you’re also being watched,” she says. “We were really drawn to the idea of almost a play with very theatrical elements and lighting—where any moment you are being observed and on display. That can be a very uncomfortable feeling. So, we leaned into brutalist architecture, and the colors and textures associated with it.”
Dakota Fanning, who plays the main character Mina, talks about the unsettling nature of the coop and being one of the characters trapped inside. “The coop’s purpose is to keep these four characters safe from the Watchers, and to also provide a way for the Watchers to watch them. There’s a big window that turns into a mirror at night,” Fanning explains. “At first, we filmed mostly with the mirror in, so you were kind of forced to look at yourself, which was a little bit strange at first, but it was also helpful, because it added to the uneasiness that the characters might also feel.”
Step inside the coop and uncover the truth as “The Watchers” is now showing in Philippine cinemas. Tickets are available at www.thewatchers.com.ph
From producer M. Night Shyamalan comes “The Watchers,” written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and based on the novel by A.M. Shine. The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
You can’t see them, but they see everything.
“The Watchers” stars Dakota Fanning (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Ocean’s Eight”), Georgina Campbell (“Barbarian,” “Suspicion”), Oliver Finnegan (“Creeped Out,” “Outlander”) and Olwen Fouere (“The Northman,” “The Tourist”). The film is produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan and Nimitt Mankad. The executive producers are Jo Homewood and Stephen Dembitzer.
Joining writer/director Shyamalan behind-the-camera are director of photography Eli Arenson (“Lamb,” “Hospitality”), production designer Ferdia Murphy (“Lola,” “Finding You”), editor Job ter Burg (“Benedetta,” “Elle”) and costume design by Frank Gallacher (“Sebastian,” “Aftersun”). The music is by Abel Korzeniowski (“Till,” “The Nun”).
In cinemas June 5, 2024, “The Watchers” is distributed in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Discovery company.
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