Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, The Alienist) plays Mina who we first see working in a pet shop in a town in Ireland by day and dressing up to be someone else in pubs in the evenings, apparently not liking herself much. It doesn't take long for us to discover that she's blanking her twin sister, Lucy, and has been doing so their whole lives following an incident (which will come out later) regarding the death of their mother.
She's asked by the mysteriously unclear shop owner (the first sign of any spook) to deliver a yellow bird in a cage to Belfast. It's a long journey but she's alright with it and sets off the next day. She's following Satnav directions and is led further and further down country lanes and eventually into a dark and threatening-looking forest. This is where the spooks proper start to happen as all her electrics stop working, phone, radio - and the car conks out in the middle of nowhere!
Not knowing what to do, she grabs the bird in the cage and heads off on foot. The spooky forest seems to now come alive, she sees a female figure and runs after her, seeking help. The figure encourages her to run through a doorway - and gives her 5 seconds to decide/do so in order to get her (implied) help. She does, of course! When she gets through the door, she finds herself in a room with a heavy, solid door with many locks, one wall which is a huge (two-way) mirror and some bare furnishings.
Each night, the four of them (and three before she got there) have to 'perform' in front of the glass in order to keep some mysterious creatures outside entertained. We don't see the creatures at this stage, but we do hear them - especially when they happily applaud any performances which the four put on. Ciara, played by Georgina Campbell (Barbarian), for example, likes to dance - and they like that!
The other two characters in the room are an older woman called Madeline, played by Olwen Fouéré (The Survivalist) and a younger chap called Daniel, played by Oliver Finnegan (Video Nasty). When daylight arrives, the creatures disappear and four of them have the run of the forest. But there are certain 'rules' that they must adhere to, as spelled out by Madeline (who has been trapped in this scenario for the longest so is kind of in-charge by default), to avoid a fate worse than death! So the creatures are The Watchers and the four of them are The Watched!
Mina tries, unsuccessfully, to 'escape' the situation a couple of times and even bravely takes steps to do so that the rest of them have not dared, but that's about all I can tell you really regarding the scenario and plot as anything much else would be spoilers. As you will expect, from hereon in things get eerie, dark and intriguing - with interesting twists, one or two of which you might not see coming.
Some of the characters' decisions are a bit wonky, frankly - it's easy to pick fault rather than to just enjoy the solid atmosphere that's been created in this dark and spooky tale. It's pretty well acted by all, though with some dubious Irish accents (Fanning gets away with that as she's an American character living in Ireland), nicely shot, good use of darkness, light, colour and mono with little to complain about really. Nice piece of fantasy which should keep you entertained for and hour and forty minutes.
Available in the UK on a few streaming services to buy/rent at time of writing and if you like this kind of stuff, you won't regret coughin' up for the ride!
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