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”).

New Line Cinema presents “The Watchers”, set to open in Australian cinemas 6 June 2024; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

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”).

New Line Cinema presents “The Watchers”, set to open in Australian cinemas 6 June 2024; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

When the four lay out their beliefs, all involved are anything but comfortable. The gang led by Leonard (Dave Bautista) spin a story of an impending apocalypse that only the three cabin dwellers can prevent. This outrageous assertion is partially backed up by emergency news reports on television that go some way towards making their claims seem true.

The craft in the script is illustrated by making you never feel entirely convinced in the veracity of their story even though they seem to be true believers. This is also mirrored by slight discrepancies in the TV news pieces. This doubt gives things a more than unsettling edge. The violence is also more implied than shown which also allows the mind to feel the threat and urgency of their actions.

As director and one member of the screenplay writing team who based it on the novel, The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul G. Tremblay, M. Night Shyamalan is at his creepy best. When one of his projects succeeds, his style imbues the proceedings with an otherworldly feeling that is quite engaging. This is one of those triumphs.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Many find his directorial abilities are best served when using others’ concepts as a wellspring. The depth and detail of this tale allows Shyamalan to make some pointed observations on topics such as the cutthroat nature of a certain huge industry and the expected entitlements of the wealthy.

The supernatural elements afoot are contrasted nicely by how idyllic the settings are. The beautiful beaches and lush scenery lull you into a gentle calm before things turn nasty. As the tension ramps up so do the horror elements. There are a number of effective scenes that cement the escalating sense of dread and the human element helps fuels that danger.

The film’s big reveal, while not completely unexpected still ends things on a satisfying note, which can be an issue with many works in this genre. Looking back on what has driven the story to this point provides deeper levels of entertainment. Might make you stay away from secluded beaches for a while though.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU

The film stars an impressive international cast including Golden Globe winner Gael García Bernal (Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle), Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), Rufus Sewell (Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle), Ken Leung (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Jupiter Ascending), Abbey Lee (HBO’s Lovecraft Country), Aaron Pierre (Syfy’s Krypton), Alex Wolff (Hereditary), Embeth Davidtz (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Eliza Scanlen (Babyteeth, Little Women), Emun Elliott (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens), Kathleen Chalfant (Showtime’s The Affair) and Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit).

Old is a Blinding Edge Pictures production, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, from his screenplay based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters. The film is also produced by Ashwin Rajan (Glass, AppleTV+’s Servant) and Marc Bienstock (Glass, Split). The film’s executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Old will be released in Australian cinemas July 22!
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU

McAvoy is in top form and uses all the means in his substantial bag of thespian tricks. He commandingly inhabits the central character of Dennis, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. It’s a twitchy and mesmerising performance that keeps the audience in an almost constant state of unease. He accomplishes this almost entirely with physical acting that uses a minimal amount of make up and costume support.

The movie dips into the horror film approach often and relies heavily on sound cues to direct the audience’s emotions. Very little believable information is given about Dennis and his actual condition, so his disorder is played out in a very one dimensional way. While this does little to give the character a human connection, it does succeed as the basis of a horror franchise film.

Some sympathy towards those with mental health issues would have given the film a less strident tone but this would have probably taken most out of the horror mode. Split is worth a view for McAvoy’s work but does little to advances the understanding of those in need.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU

Although this new work is far from perfect, it succeeds quite well in tying up a lot of the loose ends from the earlier films while creating a few new strands to savour. This time out the storyline features Sarah Paulson as the doctor who trying to make sense out of the main protagonist’s powers. This approach unfolds slowly and features a sting in the tail end.

Shyamalan proves adept as setting a scene with just the right amount of creepy overtones and slowly evolving backstory to give the film its forward momentum. It does help that the characters he has already created lend themselves to a myriad of different paths. This is especially true of James McAvoy’s character who has multiple personalities (the complete list is given in the final credits).

As a self contained experience, Glass succeeds admirably but the film is more enjoyable with a working knowledge of the first two parts of the trilogy. With the current easy accessibility of almost all film content, there is no reason not to catch Unbreakable and Split first.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/GlassAUNZ

McAvoy is in top form and uses all the means in his substantial bag of thespian tricks. He commandingly inhabits the central character of Dennis, who suffers from multiple personality disorder. It’s a twitchy and mesmerising performance that keeps the audience in an almost constant state of unease. He accomplishes this almost entirely with physical acting that uses a minimal amount of make up and costume support.

The movie dips into the horror film approach often and relies heavily on sound cues to direct the audience’s emotions. Very little believable information is given about Dennis and his actual condition, so his disorder is played out in a very one dimensional way. While this does little to give the character a human connection, it does succeed as the basis of a horror franchise film.

Some sympathy towards those with mental health issues would have given the film a less strident tone but this would have probably taken most out of the horror mode. Split is worth a view for McAvoy’s work but does little to advances the understanding of those in need.

Rob Hudson
www.splitmovie.com