A.M Shine’s 2021 novel-turned-motion-picture, The Watchers is an inventive take on the “something’s in the woods” story with a killer premise, executed with lyric prose, exciting plot, and effective dread. While on a road trip to deliver a pet bird, Mina gets lost in rural Ireland and her car breaks down. After embarking on foot through the nearby forest, Mina discovers a strange, concrete structure. Inside, Mina meets Madeline, Daniel, and Ciara, then, the mirror: floor to ceiling on the far side of the large room, lit brightly. Mina can see their reflections, but she does not see what lies on the other side of the glass: the watchers— creatures from Irish folklore who emerge from underground to observe our characters through the mirror. Should anyone go outside after dark when the creatures come out, they will be killed. Those inside The Coop, as they call it, both work together AND hurt one another— trust an ever-shifting ground beneath their feet. Can this forced family find a way out of the forest and away from the Watchers? And, if so, how do they return to their normal lives after the terrors they’ve seen? The Watchers will make you want to close your curtains. It’s about Irish folklore, being observed without consent, fucked up found families, lost and found trust, mimicking faces (in art and literally), the will to survive, and what follows you home after.

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