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What Are The Mysterious Creatures In The Watchers? Explored
Here's an in-depth look into these scary creatures in The Watchers that are actually fairies, but not the good kind.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the movie The Watchers (2024).
Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan made her directional debut with The Watchers (2024). Following in her father’s footsteps, The Watchers is an American supernatural horror film based on the 2022 novel of the same name by A.M. Shine.
One of the most intriguing elements of the movie was the mysterious entities called ‘The Watchers’ who would as the name suggests, watch its victims at night. There is more to the Watchers as they are based on real-world folklore.
The film stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouéré, and Oliver Finnegan. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on June 7, 2024. Unfortunately, Ishana’s directional debut received negative reviews from critics and was bombed at the box office.
The Watchers
Mina (Dakota Fanning) finds herself trapped with Madeline (Olwen Fouéré), Ciara (Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) in a forest surrounded by Watchers. The only way to survive them is to not leave the Coop, a bunker-like structure that is under the watchers’ observation.
As the film progresses, Mina and Madeline witness the Watchers imitate the Coop’s occupants and they realize that the Watchers are shape-shifting fairies attempting to learn to mimic humans. However, their physical appearance is not revealed for the majority of the movie.
![The Watchers [PC - Youtube/Warner Bros. Pictures]](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-07/1720347175_image-1280x720-19.jpg "The Watchers [PC - Youtube/Warner Bros. Pictures]")
The only weakness these Watchers have is that they cannot withstand sunlight. Towards the end of the movie, Mina learns more about the Watchers, and their origins, through Professor Rory Kilmartin, the creator of the Coop.
The Watchers Origins (Changelins)
In the movie, Professor Kilmartin comes to the forest to learn more about these Watchers. He even manages to capture one of them. Through his video entries and notes, Mina learns that Madeline is the Watcher the professor had captured.
In the end, when the Watcher confronts Mina, she tells it that she is a half-human hybrid. This is similar to Changelings, a supernatural entity capable of shape-shifting. Their legends differ slightly, from culture to culture.
The closest legend would be the ones from Ireland, considering the movie itself is set in the country’s forests. These changelings are not faerie-swapped children, but the faeries themselves. This could explain why the watchers observe the members of the coop through the mirrored window every night.
![The Watchers [PC - Youtube/Warner Bros. Pictures]](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-07/1720347229_image-1280x720-20.jpg "The Watchers [PC - Youtube/Warner Bros. Pictures]")
Apart from impersonating humans, these Changelings also possess superhuman levels of strength. We saw a display of this when the watchers destroyed the Coop. Also, the speed and agility they had when pursuing John.
The Changelings are historically referred to as an auf or oaf. It is a substitute/copy left by the supernatural being when it kidnaps or takes over the form of a human.
Faeries vs Humans
In the movie, the Professor’s notes mention that they once lived together in harmony, with some even mating to create offspring that could withstand daylight. Madeline even showed the group a stone marker and explained that Faeries/Fairies had lost in the war with humans, deprived of their wings, and banished to the forest.
One could say that the Faeries could have left at night, considering their nocturnal nature. There could be 2 theories as to why this was not immediately possible.
- The Faeries did lose all of their powers, so not only were they prone to sunlight, they did not have their wings either. This led to them not being able to travel far distances in their original form.
- Madeline, who we learn is a hybrid, was perhaps not aware of it and it is only until Mina tells it, that it becomes fully aware, develops wings, and flies away.
Another theory could be that it takes the Faeries long periods to properly mimic a human. This was evident, as the watcher mimicking John could not verify itself to Ciara.
In the final video entry, Professor does kill himself, and the Watcher he has captured, so it is unclear the origin of the watcher mimicking Madeline. Perhaps it could be among the other hybrids that got banished.
Who knows if there are more hybrids? The watcher did develop wings and fly away, so maybe faeries will once again live in peace with humans. Later we see Mina reconcile with her sister Lucy, while the watcher takes over the form of a human child and keeps watch over Mina.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 32% of 168 critics’ are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The film was financed by Ishana’s father, M. Night. Shyamalan, and sold to Warner Bros. for $30 million. The movie went on to make an estimated $51.2 million worldwide.
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