The Watchers | 2024 | PG-13 | – 2.5.4

Why is “The Watchers” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, terror and some thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few sexual references, a couple of kissing sequences on a TV show, some non-sexual nudity, a car crash causing a death and an injury, several scenes of people running from unseen creatures in a dark forest, a few scenes of people being attacked by something off-screen, a person dying from having his throat slit off screen, many scenes of people being trapped in a bunker by unseen creatures, discussions of a man physically abusing his young son, several arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A woman (Dakota Fanning) finds herself stranded in the middle of a dark Irish forest, and when she follows another woman (Olwen Fouéré) to a shelter, she is told that unless they can find their way out before sundown, they will be trapped by creatures referred to as the watchers. Also with Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer, John Lynch, Siobhan Hewlett, Hannah Dargan, Emily Dargan and the voice of Joel Figueroa. Directed by Ishana Shyamalan. [Running Time: 1:42]

The Watchers SEX/NUDITY 2

 – People watch a reality show called “Lair of Love,” about couples meeting and their relationships; we see a man and a woman kissing passionately and the man describes the kiss later with a suggestive description (he describes how he imagines she would be in bed).
► A man and a woman talk in a bar and the woman makes up a story about who she is. A young man and a woman dance together. A woman says that her husband told her that a young man “fancies” her.
► Many human male-looking beings walk toward a shoreline and they appear to be fully nude (we see bare chests, abdomens and legs without genitalia evident) as a mist floats across them. Drawings of female figures are seen (breasts are depicted without genitalia). A seemingly nude man is seen on a surveillance video and we see his bare legs, to the upper thighs, and his chest and abdomen. A woman sees a figure in the distance and when it stands up, we see her long hair covering her bare breasts (we see her bare abdomen and legs in heavy fog without genitalia visible). A woman wrapped with a towel stands in front of a mirror (we see her bare shoulders and cleavage). Women on a TV show wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage. A woman showers and we see her bare back and shoulders. A woman wears a cropped top that reveals her bare abdomen.

The Watchers VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man runs through a dark forest and becomes increasingly upset as the sun begins to set; he climbs a tree and falls hard to the ground when a branch breaks (we see blood on his face) and he yells in pain when he tries to retrieve a weapon from his bag, as something unseen makes screeching sounds and pulls him off-screen (we hear him screaming and pleading). A young man follows a man calling for help and pulls him toward a beach where the man hits the young man’s leg breaking it (we see it snap), he stands over the young man and presses a long claw-like nail into the young man’s forehead as he screams and we see a mark on his head as the man uses the claw to cut the young man’s throat below the frame (we hear the slash but no blood is shown). A creature skitters along a ceiling and falls to the floor, where it hits a woman in the head with a picture frame, and throws another woman against a glass window; the woman holds a shard of broken glass toward it and the creature picks another woman up off the floor and holds her against a window using its sharp nail to cut her wrist (we see a bloody slash).
► A young girl and her mother argue while in a car; the child opens the window, won’t close it, mimics what her mother tells her, and the woman raises the window and when the child’s hands get pinched in the window causing her to scream, the woman yells and swerves in front of an oncoming truck (we see the woman on the road later after having been thrown and we understand that she died, and another young girl in the car has bloody cuts on her face).
► A woman walks alone through a dark forest, the ground rumbles, she hears a screech and growling in the distance, and something moves across the screen; we see another woman, and the first woman follows her to a compound where the woman tells her to come through the door before something gets her. A woman drives along a dark unpaved road in a forest, her phone loses a signal and her car dies and won’t start again; she walks away from her car and when she turns back, she cannot see it. A woman stands in front of a large window and presses her ear against it; she taps on the glass, then moves away and something outside pounds on the door and the glass repeatedly. A woman stands in front of a large window and she hears a noise coming from the other side that she is told is the sound of creatures clapping for her. Two women hide among the roots of a fallen tree and a creature moves around them; it sits on the roots above them and we see claws, a skull with tight stretched flesh and a mouth filled with teeth as it drools and the women try to remain silent; it screeches loudly and many more creatures come into the area (they do not find the women). We hear two gunshots and understand that a man has shot a creature and himself.
► Something jostles the door of a compound loudly several times and a voice outside pleads to be let in; we see a surveillance camera image of a man’s legs (he seems to be nude) and he leans over to the camera to show his face before being snatched away by something unseen. A woman is lowered by a rope into a burrow where she finds belongings including a bicycle and a stuffed rabbit (a bug skitters across it and the woman is startled); something in the shadows makes noises, reaches toward her and we see a hand pushing through the dirt. A woman leaves a compound and stands at the edge of a burrow, seeming like she plans to fall in; she hears a voice yelling in the distance and she and another woman find a young man tying a woman to a tree. People run through a dark forest and when the sun sets, we see many creatures pouring out of burrows and following them. A creature stands up and stretches very tall and it resembles a human form. A creature shape-shifts, sprouts large wings after crashing through a large window and it flies away.
► A woman walks through a dark forest and hears children laughing and in another scene, she sees children running through the trees. Many birds swoop and screech through the forest in several scenes. Many missing persons posters are shown on a wall at a gas station outside a forest. A stone carving on a large plague on the ground depicts creatures in terror and imprisoned.
► A woman grabs a young man and slams him against a wall yelling at him. Two people argue and one tells the other, “I should have killed you months ago.” People argue about whether to open the door to a compound in several scenes. People argue about rules to follow to survive. A character says, “Those who wander in never come back out.” Signs read, “Point of no return,” held by scarecrow-type structures. People say that no one sees one and survives (referring to the watchers). People talk about something coming to watch them through a window every day at sunset and that they leave at sunrise. A woman says that her mother died 15 years ago. A woman says that her husband left a compound 6 days ago and hasn’t returned. A young man describes his father being an alcoholic and that he broke the young man’s nose twice; he says that he ran away because he was afraid that he would kill his father one day. We hear that a woman died from lung cancer. A phone message describes a memorial for a woman’s mother. A woman says that she is not a good person in a few scenes and tells a bird, “You wouldn’t like me if you knew the real me.” We hear about Irish folklore and references to fairies that were imprisoned by humans. A man describes his research and that others mocked him. People talk about the mythology of fairies and their interaction with humans.
► A young man catches a bird in a trap in a forest and snaps its neck (we hear a crunch). A woman tells a bird, “I’m going out, try not to die.” A parrot says, “We’re going to die.” A pet shop has an iguana in a tank and a parrot in a cage. A young man makes a joke about people urinating in a bucket. A woman showers and we see dirt wash down her feet and into the drain. Many large beetles skitter in a sink.

The Watchers LANGUAGE 4

 – 2 scatological terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (crazy, feral, intense, selfish, weak, clumsy, stupid, silly, unbelievable, bastard, monster), exclamations (shut-up, no way, what’s happening, the boy has lost his mind, drives me crazy), 1 religious profanity (GD), 9 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God). | profanity glossary |

The Watchers SUBSTANCE USE

 – People drink in a pub, and a man drinks glasses of liquor in a video. A woman vapes in a pet shop and outside on the sidewalk and a man tells her that the animals in the shop don’t like it when she smokes, and a woman smokes a cigarette while standing in a field.

The Watchers DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Guilt, Irish folklore, changelings, family, death of a parent, hallucinations, power, forgiveness, evil, humanity, hatred, jealousy, cheating death, research, shape-shifters, breaking the rules, fairies, fear.

The Watchers MESSAGE

 – Bad acts toward others can be caused by misunderstanding.