Daughter of Shyamalan Directs Thriller Based on Trauma – 08/06/2024 – Entertainment – Local Gazette
In recent years, it has become evident that trauma has become a commodity in commercial horror cinema. Films in the genre of various types and styles seek to explore the characters’ past pains as a way to legitimize their storylines and evoke empathy from the audience.
From the nostalgic fetish of “Halloween” to the catharsis of “Midsommar,” both in 2018, to the reimagining of “The Invisible Man” in 2020, and the monstrous tales of “Smile” and “Talk to Me” in 2022, there is a sense of “trauma privatization” where overcoming personal ghosts seems more urgent than facing the threatening figure that disrupts sinister stories.
In this context, “The Observers,” Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut, balances addressing the traumas of the protagonist, which remain hidden for much of the narrative, and dealing with mysterious threats that endanger the isolated group in a house in the middle of a forest in Ireland. The director and writer demonstrate an awareness that trauma sells well in the genre, but they are not entirely satisfied with that. Their ambition is greater. While the film ends with a resolution of personal affections constantly under tension, it is Mina, played by Dakota Fanning, who makes decisions that drive the plot forward from a collective perspective.
This sets “The Observers” apart from recent similar titles that rely on intimate sufferings to provoke distress in a simplistic manner. Mina has her trauma, but it does not lead to apathy and pity. She is constantly challenged to obey, which results in the disobedience that the past’s stain does not paralyze her. The strange phenomena she faces are, above all, undefined manifestations placed randomly in her path, rather than allegories of her wounded interior. The idea of duality that becomes important in “The Observers” reinforces the sense that Mina, in her own way, is unique and singular.
Ishana is the daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, an Indian filmmaker naturalized in the United States who achieved popular success in 1999 with “The Sixth Sense.” Since then, his work has divided opinions between those who see him as a great contemporary master and those who view him as a failed promise. Little interested in controversy, Shyamalan makes some of the best horror and suspense films in Hollywood and even produced his daughter’s first feature film. Ishana is only slightly younger than the filmmaker’s most famous offspring, precisely “The Sixth Sense,” meaning her life has been shaped by the imaginative choices of her father.
As a director, she has helmed episodes of the disturbing series “Servant,” available on Apple TV, and worked as Shyamalan’s assistant on “Old,” in 2021, and “Knock at the Cabin,” in 2023. With the technical expertise and personal guidance provided by her father, Ishana creates a visually elegant film in “The Observers,” emulating her father’s style while attempting to forge her own path. The mysteries are more ethereal, the atmosphere akin to a constant dream, and the fairytale tone—sometimes literally— is explicit in direct references to “Alice in Wonderland.”
Much of this comes from A. M. Shine’s novel adapted here, but Ishana sets the measured tone. She condenses Shine’s frenetic events into a deliberate and reflective dramatic and visual structure. It’s as if Ishana revisits the storytelling of “Lady in the Water,” one of her father’s most criticized films, under the influence of historical references found in Alfred Hitchcock—particularly “Vertigo” and “The Birds”—and contemporaries like Jordan Peele’s “Us.” Straddling the past and present, the director finds a middle ground. While not showcasing anything groundbreaking or particularly surprising, the film is strong enough to leave an impression and stand out in the horror and fantasy landscape.