Finally! A decent movie! Watching this, I couldn’t help but think M. Night Shyamalan is a good dad because this is his daughter Ishana’s directorial debut and it feels like a story created by a competent storyteller.
Is it perfect? Not by any means. There’s some directing choices that I don’t think are as strong as they could be (ie: this movie doesn’t feel very claustrophobic despite the claustrophobic story and setting). There’s some threads in the story that are straight up dumb, like how they never eat Darwin or bother to spend one day examining their surroundings. And we don’t get any long moments to awe at the character design of the Watchers.
But does it have a fun Shyamalan twist? Yes. Did I leave happy to have supported this filmmaker? Yes. Did this movie make sense from beginning to end? Yes. Is Ishana Night Shyamalan getting opportunities because of nepotism?
Yes. But unlike most nepo entertainers, she won’t need her dad to hold her hand throughout her career. She made what might be the first solid mystery thriller of the year, and this was her directorial debut!
Horror it is not. Entertaining it is yes. Roll your eyes if you must at some of the cheesy moments but know it won’t end without a sloppy but wrapped bow on top.
