Interesting. I have thoughts about "The Watched". I don't think it' particularly successful but at the same time I wouldn't say I hated it either.
Mina (Dakota Fanning) an American living in Ireland. Is travelling through ancient woods when her car suddenly breaks down. After becoming disorientated and with the sun setting, she sees Madeline (Olwen Fouere) who encourages her to join her in an isolated construction. The construction is a room with a wall that is entirely made of one-way glass, allowing people to see in, but showing the inhabitants only their reflection. Along with two other inhabitants, Clara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) the four are watched through the window by an unseen group. Whilst they can roam safely about the forest during the day, to hunt or gather supplies, they must be back at "The Coop" before it goes dark.
Interestingly, as soon as I learned that the film takes place in Ireland I guessed immediately what the Watchers were. I'm going to talk without spoilers though for the rest of the review. I will say a lot rests on the reveal of the watchers and there are good and bad elements to it. Generally, they are kept in the dark, a hand here or a movement there. There's one scene at night when they gather in silhouette that is very creepy. Later though you get a much better look, and their CGI blandness I found to be disappointing.
The films principle failing is that ultimately, it's not that scary. The creepier moments are generally played in the trailer, the Theremin record, the applause moment. I wonder if perhaps one of the problems was Dakota Fanning's aloof and rather non-plussed reaction to all that happens to her. I also think there's an aspect of "elevated horror" that the film wants to engage with, with Mina's undealt with response to the death of her mother being part of her reaction.
I think I've sounded pretty negative about the film so far, but there were some small positive elements. Generally, I liked the direction and, cinematography. For the second film this year, Olwen Fouere is left dishing out horror movie exposition and does a good job with it.
I probably sits uneasily in the "I don't recommend this, but I didn't hate it" category and I do look forward to seeing what Ishana Night Shyamalan does next.