Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s Magical Media Monday blog post, I will be discussing the 2024 Fae Horror film The Watchers, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan (yes, she is the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan).   So, I want to begin by saying, yes, you did read that right, this is a horror film about the Fae!   Now, as with basically all of my film reviews, I will be giving spoilers here, so if you have yet to see the film, this is your warning.  Beyond that, as this film is based on Faery folklore, I will be doing a Magical Media Analysis along the way!   

It may seem very surprising that I did not watch this sooner, as I have just recently seen it for the first time.   It may also seem surprising that I have yet to read the book (but I definitely want to now), as I normally read the book first.   That being said, I did put off watching this for several months because I had heard rather mixed things about it.   I always knew I would get around to viewing it, but I chose not to rush.   But I am very glad to have finally watched it!   I also want to say the very first thing to come to my mind when I finished the film was MORE CHANGELING HORROR PLEASE (I even put that in all caps in my Letterboxd review).

So, firstly, I want to say that when the film began, I really liked the Forest setting (during the cold opening prologue), so I knew I was in for a visual treat as far as that went.   I was also very happy to see Dakota Fanning, as I have enjoyed her acting since she was young.   The basic set-up was simple enough; Fanning’s character, Mina, is living in Ireland and asked by her employer to deliver a bird to his new owner (as she works in a pet shop specializing in birds).   Soon enough, the audience learns that Mina is grieving the 15th anniversary of her mother’s death on that day, adding poignancy to the beginning of the film.   It is clear that Mina has some destructive patterns of behavior when she decided to spend her night (before departing with the bird) putting on a wig (which I have to say the dark hair looked good on her), going to a club, picking up a man, and lying about being a ballerina!   But, hey, people cope in all sorts of ways, and we later learn that Mina was the one who distracted her mother, leading to the car crash that took her mother’s life.   So, the woman is dealing with some serious guilt over that!

When she began her drive to deliver the bird, she listened to a message her sister had left her the day before, full of concern over Mina not coming to visit for the anniversary of their mother’s death, as they held an anniversary memorial for her.   This is when we learn that Mina is a twin, with her sister being named Lucy.   It is also here that the film hooked me, as I absolutely cannot resist a Dracula reference!   We also hear in the message that Lucy mentioned how the ‘boys’ reacted, hinting that she is a mother, likely also of twins.   Another running throughline in the story begins here, as Mina listened to this message over and over, repeating the words.   This seems to be a coping mechanism for Mina, to mimic what she has heard before to ease her anxiety, as she does this many times in the film, often during times of the most acute stress!

It is not long before Mina’s car enters the Forest, and the radio begins to cut out, with the numbers on the radio briefly turning into Runes before it cuts out completely.   These Runes are obviously being used as a warning that Mina cannot begin to pick up the meaning of.   After the radio breaks down, so does the car.   So, Mina begins walking deeper into the Forest with the bird still in his cage.   This is when she names him Darwin (obviously after Charles Darwin) and a genius nod to the fact that she is definitely going into a survival of the fittest situation, even more than she realized!   Mina is obviously concerned about being in the Forest alone, especially with all of these signs stating the point of no return around.   But, she perseveres and finds a shelter inhabited by three people.

This is where the story really gets going, as Madeline (the obvious leader), Ciara, and Daniel are introduced.   The audience is brought into their strange world, hiding each night in this bunker, with a wall that is a mirror, but really a window, where they know that they are being watched.   The Watchers, as they call them, simply watch each night, and as long as they remain inside during the night, they are safe to hunt and gather herbs in the daylight.   So, it is quite clear that they are captives, but that they also have some freedom, as long as they follow the rules.   

Ciara mentioned that her husband, John, had left some time earlier (she thinks 6 days, but time runs together for them as they live this strange life).  Ciara said that she hoped he would be back soon.   Obviously, when he did return, if it was even him at all, he met a grisly fate, as it was night and Madeline would not open the door (as was the rule to keep the Watchers outside).   There are those moments of terror as they explore the Forest, or as the Watchers toy with them.   The incident with John happened after they tried to use some old technology Mina and Daniel had found in an underground cave to see the Watchers.   They are being punished for disrespect and for breaking the rules, which is a very Fae way to go about things.   The Fae are all about respect and keeping to an oath that is made!

The technology aspect is also intriguing, as the Fae are very much at one with nature, and technology often goes against nature.   Any tech devices only work in the bunker, and there are some random things there when Mina arrived, like a TV with DVDs of an old reality dating show.   That is another point we see her mimicking when watching the show.   The time they spend in the bunker and in the Forest sort of begins to run together, which is why I am discussing it in a bit of a stream of consciousness way, as that is how it plays out.   This is another brilliant inclusion of Faerylore, as the Realms of Faerie are known for having time run differently!   While Mina tracks her days there by drawing numbers on the floor, the others do not, and often cannot properly remember the passage of time.

When things got more dangerous, after Daniel had a fight with Madeline and locked her and Mina out of the bunker for a time, they became desperate for a safer place to hide.   It is after this that Madeline reveals that the Watchers go by many names, including Fae, Faeries, and Changelings, much to the derision of Daniel, who seems to find this silly.   However, they all know how unsafe it is, as they all now know that the Watchers watch so that they can mimic and transform into humans.   It is after this is revealed that they find a door under a carpet, leading to a fallout shelter of sorts.   Mina begins digging into the files on a computer, and that is how the audience learns that this shelter was built by a professor named Kilmartin, who was an expert in folklore and purposely went searching for the Watchers.

In his videos, Kilmartin confessed that he willingly sacrificed men who helped build the bunker to the Watchers by having the men spend the night outside!   It is pretty clear that he is a scholar above all, wanting to learn at any cost, including building a shelter on the blood of innocents in an almost Faustian way.   In later videos, they watch as Kilmartin had captured one of the Watchers to study up close.   Then, in the final video, Kilmartin stated that he planned to kill himself and the Watcher he had captured, revealing that if anyone watched the video, there was a boat and a safe route of escape.   He ended by asking the person to destroy his research, which is at his office in the University where he worked, if they made it out safely.

Immediately after seeing this, the four in the bunker made a plan to leave the next morning.   They trekked through the Forest in the daylight, seeing lots of Faery imagery and even carved stones, which Madeline explained were showing where the Fae were once locked up after a war with humans.   Before then, they had been worshipped like Gods, and lived beside humans.   This does draw directly from Celtic folklore, especially in Ireland (where the film is set), as there were wars that ended with the Tuatha Dé Danann becoming the People of the Faery Mounds, retreating into the Hollow Hills as humans took over the land!   That is how the Fae retreated into the Otherworld in Irish myth, and how the beliefs surrounding Faery Mounds (or the Sith) began.

Back to the story breakdown, they had to rush to get to safety as the sun was going down.   Daniel turned back, as he believed he saw Ciara’s husband, John, even as Ciara warned him that it was not John, but in fact, a Watcher.   Sadly, Daniel died just shy of reaching the safety of the boat!   The others floated in the water until they reached the other side of the Forest and found freedom.   The crossing of water to return to the human world after being trapped in Faeryland, which is essentially what had happened to the characters, is also found in folklore.   Water is a portal, and travelling into and over water is often a way to reach Faerylands, with Avalon actually being a prime example of a Faery Island arrived at in this way!

Yet, the film was not over there, as the three women take a bus back to civilization.   Mina took on the task of clearing out Kilmartin’s office.   It is there that she listened to a recording describing the time when the humans and Fae lived alongside one another, before the war, and how the Fae even sometimes took human lovers and spouses.   This led to the Halflings, people who were half Faery!   Once again, this is directly from folklore, as there are many stories of the Fae intermarrying with humans.   In fact, that is what gave rise to the idea that everyone of Irish descent has at least a few drops of Faery blood!

It is after this that Mina learned the truth about Madeline, as she found photos in Kilmartin’s office of him and Madeline.   I had suspected that they had a connection before this, but the exact connection is very interesting and a bit unexpected.   Mina went to see Ciara to explain that Kilmartin was married to a woman named Madeline, but she had died years before he went into the bunker.   Clearly, he sought the Watchers because he wanted a Changeling to take the form of his wife!

He succeeded in this wish, but did not end the life of the Changeling, as she had already grown in power.   He died, but she survived, living as Madeline and helping humans.   Unfortunately, Mina did not say this to the real Ciara, as Madeline was in her form.   She had clearly gotten good at impersonating humans, which is also in line with Changelings in folklore, who use Faery Glamour to appear as the human they have been swapped with.   

There was a confrontation between Mina and Madeline when Ciara returned home.   Although Madeline had planned to kill Mina, Mina’s revelation that she knew why Madeline could walk in the daylight (as the Watchers in this universe cannot, they are like Vampires in that way).   Mina told Madeline she was a Halfling, and that is likely why she also felt an affinity for humans.   With that, Madeline departed, leaving Mina free and alive, and Mina would not seek to have Madeline return to the Forest!   The very last scene showed Mina and Lucy reconnected with Mina interacting with her and the boys, a great bookend to the beginning of the film.   Of course, we see that Madeline is watching the outside of the apartment building before the credits roll!

So, there you have it, the complete plot breakdown, with all of my Magical Media Analysis notes throughout.   I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on this film, as I broke down the plot.   Did you pick up on the folklore as you watched the film?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is my favorite poster from the film.   I found the poster on https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26736843/.

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries            

Further Reading

• Celtic Myths and Tales, foreword by Jake Jackson, published by Flame Tree Publishing
• A New Dictionary of Fairies by Morgan Daimler