Dakota Fanning’s new M. Night Shyamalan-produced psychological thriller The Watchers can hopefully make up for her 2005 horror flop Hide and Seek, giving her a much-needed redemption in the genre. The Watchers, which hits theaters later this year, is the directorial debut of Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan. Fanning stars as a young woman who is stranded in the woods when her car breaks down. Her character soon wanders into an isolated room containing three strangers and a one-way mirror with mysterious creatures watching from the other side.

Fanning’s The Watchers co-stars – also trapped in this strange room, being watched by the creatures – include Barbarian’s Georgina Campbell and Halo’s Olwen Fouéré. The first teaser trailer for The Watchers promised a truly terrifying moviegoing experience, and the new footage released at CinemaCon has only confirmed that. The excitement for The Watchers‘ refreshing psychological horror premise and Fanning’s role is even greater due to the redemptive opportunity it presents after her disappointing last live-action entry in the horror genre, which arrived in 2005 when she was still a child actor.

Dakota Fanning’s The Watchers Can Redeem 2005’s Hide & Seek

Dakota Fanning’s first horror movie as an adult looks more promising than Hide & Seek

In 2005, Fanning starred in a psychological horror movie called Hide and Seek. She played Emily Callaway, the daughter of Robert De Niro’s character David Callaway, a widower struggling to move on from his wife’s death. Emily takes solace in her relationship with an imaginary friend named “Charlie,” which quickly takes a sinister turn. The film had a promising premise – and two all-time greats in the lead roles – but it was near-universally panned by critics for being derivative, unconvincing, and worst of all, profoundly unscary. It has a dismal “rotten” score of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Still, Fanning’s performance was praised; she ended up winning an MTV Movie Award for Best Frightened Performance for the film. With The Watchers, Fanning seems to have found a live-action horror vehicle worthy of her talents after nearly two decades. The new CinemaCon footage from The Watchers has teased more psychological elements. Her broken-down car vanishes, she talks to a parrot, and a woman believes she can see her dead husband on a TV screen, calling into question how much is really happening and how much is some kind of hallucination. Suffice to say, The Watchers sounds like a twisted concept with the potential for great critical acclaim and box office success.

The Watchers Isn’t Dakota Fanning’s Only Upcoming Horror Movie

The Watchers isn’t the only upcoming horror movie that Fanning is starring in. She’s also starring in Vicious, a new horror movie written and directed by The Strangers’ Bryan Bertino, alongside Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, and Rachel Blanchard. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film is set to arrive on August 8, 2025. So, Fanning’s horror genre comeback isn’t just confined to The Watchers; she’s going for full-blown “scream queen” status.

Considering she recently returned to franchise acting when reuniting with Denzel Washington in 2023’s The Equalizer 3, her new career trend could lead to Dakota Fanning starring in her own horror franchise. It’s too early to predict whether The Watchers and Vicious have franchise potential, but the former isn’t out of the realm of possibility given the Shyamalan family’s past franchise experience with the likes of the Unbreakable movie trilogy. If her two upcoming films succeed as predicted, then Fanning’s new “scream queen” turn could generate plenty more entries in the horror genre.

What Went Wrong With Dakota Fanning’s 2005 Hide & Seek Movie

The movie’s plot faced plenty of criticism

Despite having one of the biggest actors in Hollywood and one of the most promising child actors as the two leads, Hide and Seek‘s mostly negative reviews confirm that the cast couldn’t save its derivative premise. Before it even released, Hide and Seek also face problems behind the scenes. The mystery thriller film was originally set to be directed by Menace II Society‘s Albert Hughes, but he left due to “creative differences” (via Variety). It’s still unclear what the “differences” were, but it seems as if the 2005 movie never recovered from his exit and subsequent creative direction of the story.

The biggest problem with Hide and Seek seems to be its inconsistent tone, which begins with plenty of twists and thrills before erupting into a more ridiculous premise that warrants more laughs than frights. Appearing to lack an awareness of the type of film it wants to be, Hide and Seek is plagued with numerous red herrings that lead to more frustration than pleasant surprises, with critics noting that many such events are simply repetitive of past horror movies. Considering how abruptly the film changes its tone and story approach, it’s not surprising that Hide and Seek‘s final twist failed to land with critics and audiences.

Still, regardless of the issues that led to Hide and Seek‘s abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score, it managed to find praise in Fanning and De Niro’s performances. The movie also became a box office success in 2005, earning over $127.3 million worldwide and landing in the top 50-highest-grossing movies that year (via Box Office Mojo). Robert De Niro’s movies saw several box office bombs amid mixed or negative reviews in the early 2000s, so Hide and Seek‘s commercial performance was somewhat surprising.

Why The Watchers Is Such An Exciting Upcoming Horror Release

The Watchers has a promising psychological horror premise

In addition to the excitement of The Watchers being Dakota Fanning’s horror genre return, the movie also has a great horror-experienced cast and crew behind it. Considering Shyamalan’s father is noted for having some of the most iconic twists in horror movie history, seeing her take on the genre is promising after everything she’s learned from his career while still adding her own unique vision from the eyes of a new generation. If The Watchers proves to be a hit, then it’s clear that the Shyamalan name will continue to have a hold on the horror genre for years to come.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Variety, Box Office Mojo

The Watchers

Based on A.M. Shine’s novel, The Watchers follows Mina (Dakota Fanning), 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.

Director

Ishana Shyamalan

Release Date

June 14, 2024

Cast

Dakota Fanning

Studio(s)

New Line Cinema

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures