MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Director Ishana Night Shyamalan weaves fantasy and horror together in her feature debut, The Watchers, and takes viewers 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 for the mysterious Watchers to observe the trapped individuals, Ishana 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 said. “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 is 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,” Dakota explained. “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 here.
