Summary
Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut filmThe Watchershas one major connection to one of the most surprising and universally-acclaimed pure horror movies of the last few years. An adaptation of A.M. Shine’s 2022 novel of the same name,The Watchersfollows Mina (Dakota Fanning), a young woman with a haunted past as she finds herself trapped with a group of strangers in a mysterious forest in Ireland. Together they must work to find a way out of the forest and escape from the creatures that watch them every night.
The Watchersis driven by powerful performances from its cast, which features Olwen Fouéré, Olvier Finnegan, and Georgina Campbell as the three strangers Mina is trapped with. WhileThe Watchersmay lean more fantasy than horror, it benefits from having an experienced horror veteran in a key role in Campbell. She plays the young woman Ciara who was trapped months before Mina, and who awaits the return of her missing husband. Her performance inThe Watcherscalls to mind her breakout role in a 2022 box office and critical smash hit.
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The Watchers' Georgina Campbell Starred In 2022’s Barbarian
She played Tess Marshall in the surprise hit
Georgina Campbell’s powerful performance inThe Watchersbalances calm with terror,which is very reminiscent of her role as Tess Marshall inBarbarian, the 2022 horror-thriller hit from Zach Cregger.Barbarianstars Campbell as a young woman whose Airbnb happens to conceal the den of a monstrous, deformed woman who kidnaps and imprisons her. The first half of the modern classic takes a slow burn approach to its scares, not unlikeThe Watchers. It builds tension and fear without relying on the monster at its center, a trait it also shares withThe Watchers.
Barbariancurrently holds a 93% onRotten Tomatoes, andCampbell’s performance has been singled out for praisemany times over. Campbell flexes her scream queen muscles throughout, and gets to progress through a few different levels of fear inBarbarian; from quietly nervous at first to full-fledged Final Girl terror in the movie’s climax. Her performance inThe Watchersis strangely similar and every bit as good, and invites comparison.
The Watchers & Barbarian Give Georgina Campbell 2 Horror Hits
The English actor has a growing horror filmography
BothBarbarianandThe Watcherswere wide releases, and introduced Georgina Campbell to a much larger audience than she had previously been exposed to. Campbell has had TV roles as far back as 2010, and has had notable roles in widely acclaimed series includingOne Of Us,Broadchurch,Black Mirror, andHis Dark Materials. Her role inBarbarianwas her true mainstream breakout, however, andThe Watchersgives her a second notch in the belt as a go-to horror actress. Those are not Campbell’s only horror roles, however.
2021
2022
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Lovely, Dark and Deep
The Watchers
2024
Campbell has quietly become one of the top names in horror/thriller cinemain the last few years, and her turns inBarbarianandThe Watchersare evidence that her popularity in those genres will only continue to grow. Between those two movies, she starred in Netflix’s follow-up to the streaming sensationBird Box, which starred Sandra Bullock, titledBird Box: Barcelona. She also starred in the critically-acclaimedLovely, Dark, and Deep, which currently holds an 89% onRotten Tomatoes. Georgina Campbell’s status as a horror mainstay is certainly in the process of being cemented.
Cast
Based on A.M. Shine’s novel, The Watchers follows Mina, a twenty-eight-year-old artist stranded in the middle of a forest in Ireland. Her momentary relief when she finds shelter is shattered when she discovers other strangers in the same predicament - but they’re stalked each night by unseen creatures.
