Here's another filmmaker who deserves a thank you card from Tourism Ireland for showcasing the oul place on the big screen.
Ishana Night Shyamalan, the daughter of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable director M Night, makes her feature debut 'round these parts with The Watched, a supernatural siege movie based on Irish author AM Shine's folk chiller The Watchers. A long way from home, Shyamalan is right at home here.
While Galway and Wicklow are as much the stars as anyone else on screen, Dakota Fanning takes top billing on the poster as Mina, a troubled American woman living out wesht. On a road trip for work, Mina takes the wrong turn into the woods - and soon discovers that she has an audience.
Commendably, The Watched doesn't mess around with unnecessary build-up, getting right into the action after 10-odd minutes - at which point you'll be wondering if it's just you or is the cinema actually damp. This is a story that's truly off the beaten track and where the characters really can't see the forest for the trees.
Fanning, Irish co-stars Olwen Fouéré and Oliver Finnegan and British thesp Georgina Campbell gel well as the quartet fighting to survive, and Shyamalan's script does justice to the folklore at the centre of their groundhog nights. Like father like daughter, there's also a twist.
The Watched could have been scarier, but that's the only gripe about a film that's no chore to, well, you know what. Calling card out of the way, it'll be interesting to see where Shyamalan pitches up next. She has said she would be "so happy" to make another film in Ireland. We should hold her to that. In the meantime, stick Wicklow's Ballinastoe Woods on the to-visit list this summer. And don't get lost...
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