The Watchers (2024)(Minor Spoilers)

 

**This review contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Tasked with delivering a rare Golden Conure parrot, a pet shop employee named Mina (Dakota Fanning) runs into trouble, when her car mysteriously shuts off in a desolate forest. After hearing a series of strange noises, Madeline (Olwen Fouere) urges Mina to run to The Coop, a fortified shelter in the middle of the forest. 

Mina joins Madeline, Ciara (Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) inside The Coop. Madeline tells Mina about The Watchers, a supernatural species. The Watchers closely observe anyone inside The Coop through a large two-way mirror, and Madeline warns Mina about the dangers of breaking a set of strict rules fiercely enforced by The Watchers. The group learns more about The Watchers through a series of video recordings from Professor Kilmartin (John Lynch), a man who voluntarily secluded himself in the forest to study The Watchers (aka fairies). Determined to escape, Mina sets out to find answers, but a handful of mishaps threatens the safety of the survivors. 

My Thoughts- I was almost sure I could easily predict where the story was going, who would survive, and how The Watchers would end, but I was wrong, more than once. Writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan throws a decent amount of curveballs at you. During the early stages of the movie, I was ready to dismiss this one as an ordinary post-apocalyptic movie. 

Mina, the rebel and the rule-breaker, shows up and she disrupts the tight bond between Madeline, Ciara, and Daniel. After living in fear of The Watchers, with survival in one single room (and some free time in the forest during daylight hours) as the daily objective, Mina will be the reason group escapes. That, or Mina will be directly responsible for everyone suffering horrible deaths at the hands of The Watchers. 

But The Watchers slowly unravels an intriguing mystery, full of good surprises, and the story is loaded with fine details. Also, the forest really works as a good spooky and quiet setting, a place that eerily attracts lost souls. 

The history of The Watchers/fairies, and their bloody conflict with humans, adds a lot of emotional depth to the story. Forced underground to live in darkness, a peaceful and harmonious relationship ended, because the humans reached a point, where they feared The Watchers’ supernatural abilities. And Mina naming the parrot Darwin is a clever little nugget, because you could say Darwinism plays a role in the story here.

 There’s a lot of good in The Watchers, but the CGI just looks so bad. The shape-shifting transformations are decent enough. Still, The Watchers are supposed to be fearsome monsters, but the CGI makes them look kind of goofy in certain scenes. And I rolled my eyes during that one scene, where Daniel is tricked by “John,”  Ciara’s husband. They already established The Watchers have shape-shifting abilities, so Daniel should’ve known better.

A few chinks in the armor, but overall The Watchers is a damn good sci-fi horror film. The casting is top notch, because everyone perfectly fits their characters. Dakota Fanning nails Mina, a lost and broken young woman, who doesn’t want to deal with a tragedy from her past. Mina playing dress-up to go out to a bar is a scene that sticks out for me, because she’s either not confident enough to be herself, or she doesn’t want to open up to anyone about the car accident. 

Olwen Fouere delivered a superb performance as Madeline. Madeline is believable as the stern mother figure, who wants to protect Mina, Daniel, and Ciara. But on the other side of her role as a guardian, you could also say Madeline is the only person, who’s holding the group back, killing any real chances for an escape and freedom, because locking yourself in one room day in and day out will surely drive anyone crazy.

The Watchers is not limited to horror elements, including creepy nighttime scenes, scares, and some good tense close calls. You can point to Mina, Madeline, Professor Kilmartin, and Ciara (to a certain extent), and you’ll see stories about regret, loss, revenge, guilt, and the need for closure. 

The Watchers ends with a peaceful resolution, emotional reunions, and full circle moments. Ishana Shyamalan could’ve taken the easy way out, ending the movie with brutal deaths and violence. But you have to listen closely to Mina’s words during the fiasco at Ciara’s house: life, and being a human being is a tricky and sometimes complicated journey. Giving in to bad thoughts and emotions is not the best option, because you’re blindly taking a chance of plunging yourself into more disastrous setbacks.

Rating- 9/10 

The Watchers (2024)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Tasked with delivering a rare Golden Conure parrot, a pet shop employee named Mina (Dakota Fanning) runs into trouble, when her car mysteriously shuts off in a desolate forest. After hearing a series of strange noises, Madeline (Olwen Fouere) urges Mina to run to The Coop, a fortified shelter in the middle of the forest. 

Mina joins Madeline, Ciara (Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) inside The Coop. Madeline tells Mina about The Watchers, a supernatural species. The Watchers closely observe anyone inside The Coop through a large two-way mirror, and Madeline warns Mina about the dangers of breaking a set of strict rules fiercely enforced by The Watchers. The group learns more about The Watchers through a series of video recordings from Professor Kilmartin (John Lynch), a man who voluntarily secluded himself in the forest to study The Watchers (aka fairies). Determined to escape, Mina sets out to find answers, but a handful of mishaps threatens the safety of the survivors. 

My Thoughts- Madeline is one of The Watchers AND she’s a hybrid! A genuinely surprising twist, but it’s the kind of twist that also makes sense. Madeline was supposed to just be another survivor. But she knew a lot about The Watchers/fairies, their way of life, their weaknesses (Watchers only come out at night, because they’re vulnerable to sunlight), and the rich history behind the existence of their species. Going further with the big twist, Madeline should’ve been dead, because we’re lead to believe Professor Kilmartin murdered the fairy version of Madeline years ago. To add another eerie layer to the story, The Watchers are also shapeshifters, so Madeline chose the form of Kilmartin’s dead wife after being held captive by the Professor.  

Wait, so you’re telling me the movie doesn’t end in bloodshed after Madeline (assuming the form of Ciara) was determined to kill Mina and Ciara? The Watchers ends with a conversation and desperate pleas from Mina, urging Madeline to not give in to her feelings of hatred for humans. Madeline had every justifiable reason that you could possibly think of to hold some deep grudges. As a “daywalker,” she was an outcast amongst her own people, and the one human (Kilmartin), who she believed was trustworthy tried to kill her. 

But Mina reminds Madeline that anger, jealousy, hatred, and working through those emotions to transform yourself into a better person is what the human experience is all about. In The Coop, Madeline genuinely cares about Mina, Daniel, and Ciara. And there’s no denying Madeline was a good person. She risked her life to protect all three of them, no matter how much Madeline tried to cling to her selfish motivations for living in the outside world. 

The Watchers concludes with Mina reconciling with her twin sister Lucy (also played by Dakota Fanning). Mina stayed away from Lucy and her children for years, because she carried a heavy burden of guilt for causing a car accident that killed their mother, when they were both kids.

I was almost sure I could easily predict where the story was going, who would survive, and how The Watchers would end, but I was wrong, more than once. Writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan throws a decent amount of curveballs at you. During the early stages of the movie, I was ready to dismiss this one as an ordinary post-apocalyptic movie. 

Mina, the rebel and the rule-breaker, shows up and she disrupts the tight bond between Madeline, Ciara, and Daniel. After living in fear of The Watchers, with survival in one single room (and some free time in the forest during daylight hours) as the daily objective, Mina will be the reason group escapes. That, or Mina will be directly responsible for everyone suffering horrible deaths at the hands of The Watchers. 

But The Watchers slowly unravels an intriguing mystery, full of good surprises, and the story is loaded with fine details. Also, the forest really works as a good spooky and quiet setting, a place that eerily attracts lost souls. 

The history of The Watchers/fairies, and their bloody conflict with humans, adds a lot of emotional depth to the story. Forced underground to live in darkness, a peaceful and harmonious relationship ended, because the humans reached a point, where they feared The Watchers’ supernatural abilities. And Mina naming the parrot Darwin is a clever little nugget, because you could say Darwinism plays a role in the story here. 

There’s a lot of good in The Watchers, but the CGI just looks so bad. The shape-shifting transformations are decent enough. Still, The Watchers are supposed to be fearsome monsters, but the CGI makes them look kind of goofy in certain scenes. And I rolled my eyes during that one scene, where Daniel is tricked by “John,”  Ciara’s husband. They already established The Watchers have shape-shifting abilities, so Daniel should’ve known better.

A few chinks in the armor, but overall The Watchers is a damn good sci-fi horror film. The casting is top notch, because everyone perfectly fits their characters. Dakota Fanning nails Mina, a lost and broken young woman, who doesn’t want to deal with a tragedy from her past. Mina playing dress-up to go out to a bar is a scene that sticks out for me, because she’s either not confident enough to be herself, or she doesn’t want to open up to anyone about the car accident. 

Olwen Fouere delivered a superb performance as Madeline. Madeline is believable as the stern mother figure, who wants to protect Mina, Daniel, and Ciara. But on the other side of her role as a guardian, you could also say Madeline is the only person, who’s holding the group back, killing any real chances for an escape and freedom, because locking yourself in one room day in and day out will surely drive anyone crazy.

The Watchers is not limited to horror elements, including creepy nighttime scenes, scares, and some good tense close calls. You can point to Mina, Madeline, Professor Kilmartin, and Ciara (to a certain extent), and you’ll see stories about regret, loss, revenge, guilt, and the need for closure. 

The Watchers ends with a peaceful resolution, emotional reunions, and full circle moments. Ishana Shyamalan could’ve taken the easy way out, ending the movie with brutal deaths and violence. But you have to listen closely to Mina’s words during the fiasco at Ciara’s house: life, and being a human being is a tricky and sometimes complicated journey. Giving in to bad thoughts and emotions is not the best option, because you’re blindly taking a chance of plunging yourself into more disastrous setbacks.

Rating- 9/10 

Tarot (2024)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- During Elise’s (Larsen Thompson) birthday party, Haley (Harriet Slater) reluctantly does tarot card readings for Elise, Paxton (Jacob Batalon), Paige (Avantika Vandanapu), Madeline (Humberly Gonzalez), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz), and her ex-boyfriend, Grant (Adain Bradley). Haley’s concerns are justified after a series of strange occurrences and attacks directly connected to the tarot cards, sparking a panic amongst the group.

After a failed meeting with police detectives, Haley seeks out Alma (Olwen Fouere), a veteran tarot card reader and a specialist on dark forces. Haley is determined to save her friends from certain death, and Alma is willing to help. Will Haley succeed in cheating fate before it’s too late?

My Thoughts- Harriet Slater delivers a solid performance as the voice of reason and the leader in the group. Jacob Batalon, playing the paranoid goofball, who’s obsessed with true crime podcasts, provides most of the laughs as the entertaining comedic relief character. 

Olwen Fouere perfectly fills the role of the old and wise storyteller, the harbinger of doom in a horror film, who’s also willing to lend a helping hand. It’s a big turning point, when Alma is introduced, because she stresses the seriousness and the seemingly inescapable dangers surrounding the curse. Alma is haunted and broken from the curse that killed her friends, but she still has a fighting spirit. A good performance from Fouere, bringing the essential presence of a veteran actress, who’s also a crucial lynchpin for the story. 

One of my bigger problems with Tarot is, they felt the need to shackle Haley’s friends with their zodiac signs. Yeah, I get it. Everyone’s astrological sign is supposed to be directly tied into their fates. That’s a big theme in Tarot, and they actually did a good job connecting the horoscope readings with the deaths throughout the movie. 

But on the flip side of that, you’re severely limiting the other performances to stay within the confines of their zodiac signs. Too many thin characters to round out the cast. Alma, Hayley, and Paxton were really the only ones, who had anything resembling unique personalities that truly stood out. On top of that, there’s some noticeable effort for Alma and Hayley’s backstories, including Hayley turning to tarot cards to help her cope with her mother’s illness. You can’t say that for the rest of the cast.

One too many stupid decisions throughout Tarot. You probably shouldn’t ignore a sign that says keep out, leading to the basement full of creepy items that includes the tarot cards. Hayley knows something isn’t right before she does the reading, but she still decides to do the reading, basically ignoring clear warning signs to please Elise, because it’s her birthday. Madeline, ignoring the warnings from her friends, runs out of the car, and guess what happens? The Hanged Man demon kills her. I know everything goes back to each character’s zodiac sign playing a role in their motivations and the decisions they make, but there’s no denying Madeline would’ve had a better chance to survive, if she stayed in the car. 

Why are the police detectives so useless here? The group meets with the detectives, and their response to the situation is to basically tell everyone, well, we’re sorry your friends are dead, but there’s nothing we can do, so just go home and sleep it off? The police wouldn’t have been able to stop the supernatural forces. I get that, but at least put more effort into the detectives trying to do something, ANYTHING to help. Instead, the detectives only appear in one scene and they’re gone after that. 

Tarot makes a noticeable push to slightly step over the line for what you might expect from the usual tamed PG-13 horror film. Haley drops an F- bomb (“f*** fate!”) towards the end. The brutal, creative, and ironic death scenes connected to the zodiac signs and the tarot cards, complete with splatters of blood for Elise and Lucas’ deaths caught me off guard a little bit, especially Elise’s death. 

Paige’s death at the hands of The Magician is savage and cruel. The crowd of ghoulish spectators gleefully watching as Paige suffers, while she’s literally cut in half inside the box is something else. Just watching everything happen is a slow and agonizing experience, including the The Magician’s sadistic enthusiasm and shots of the blood stained saw.

Tarot delivers a tense and suspenseful finale, with Haley and Grant trying to escape Death and The Devil. Haley, turning the tables on the evil Hungarian astrologer by doing a tarot card reading for her, ends the curse and Haley defeats the astrologer. A mostly happy ending for the surviving trio of Haley, Grant, and Paxton, while Haley finally finds closure for her mother’s death. 

Tarot had a lot of potential. The sequence where The Fool stalks and toys with Paxton is excellent, and Tarot features some spooky moments and scenes. The dark backstory for the Hungarian astrologer and the reasons behind her decision to seek vengeance by placing a curse on the cards was terrific. An emotional story about the Hungarian Count refusing to accept the fate of his wife and unborn child, leading to The Count sending a lynch mob to search for the astrologer, which resulted in her daughter’s death. 

Tarot had a solid foundation to work with, a story about the fears of not being able to escape the inevitability of death and fate, mixed with plausible supernatural elements involving tarot cards and zodiac signs. The big problem is, Tarot is hampered by referring to the mainstream horror movie playbook too much. A lot of familiar horror movie cliches, and too many unnecessary and forced jump scares. The ominous figures standing in the shadows or the background scare tactic was repetitive, because they relied on it too much. And it’s a close call at the end, but I never truly believed Haley was in any real danger, or that she wouldn’t survive the attacks.

Rating- 4/10

Coming Attractions- The Watchers (2024)

 

Director- Ishana Night Shyamalan

Cast- Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Olwen Fouere

Release Date- June 7, 2024

A promising trailer that doesn’t show a lot, but they still managed to drop a few clues. I’m leaning towards a big twist. Creatures? Watching a bunch of strangers in the middle of nowhere? It’s obviously some kind of experiment, and I’m guessing Dakota Fanning is the final girl. Or maybe it’s a post-apocalyptic film, and the creatures want to see, who should live or die?

Ishana Shyamalan’s directorial debut has a lot of potential. I haven’t read the book the movie is based on yet, but it’ll be interesting to see, if Shyamalan decided to make any major changes. 

Coming Attractions- Tarot (2024)

 

Directors- Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg

Cast- Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon, Avantika Vandanapu, Olwen Fouere, Wolfgang Novogratz, Larsen Thompson, Adain Bradley, Humberly Gonzalez

Release Date- May 3, 2024

Tarot is based on the novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams. The trailer? It’s really hit and miss for me. The spooky atmosphere looks good, but I see one too many scenarios, where the main characters will make stupid decisions that could’ve easily been avoided. A lot of jump scares in the trailer, and it’s a trick that loses its shock factor, if you rely on it too much. The kids trapped in the car, with the proximity sensors going off could’ve been a nice surprise. It’s something I haven’t seen before, but it looks like they showed most of the sequence in the trailer. 

Tarot has an intriguing premise with a lot of promise. Although, if this trailer is an accurate sign of things to come, Tarot will stick to the usual cookie-cutter formula for mainstream PG-13 horror films.