The Watchers ending leaves room for a sequel (spoilers ahead)

The Watchers is now playing in theaters. The new film from writer and director Ishana Night Shyamalan is based on A.M. Shine's novel of the same name and centers around a group of strangers trapped in the forest at the behest of mysterious unseen entities.

Given the film's many twists and turns, some might be confused about how it ends. What happens to Mina, Ciara, Daniel, and Madeline? Do they escape from the forest? Let's discuss the film's final act. Spoilers ahead for The Watchers.

What are the Watchers?

The Watchers are revealed to be creatures of Irish folklore known as changelings or faeries. According to the film's lore, there was once a time when the fae and humans lived side by side. But humans started feeling threatened by the fae's magic, so they captured and entombed them in the forest.

Because of this, the changelings mutated and lost their wings over the years. They've been unable to leave the forest and have captured people to study them so they can mimic their appearance and behavior and perhaps one day free themselves by walking out of the forest in human form.

The twist involving Madeline

One of the film's biggest late reveals is that Madeline is a Watcher. The real Madeline died from lung cancer long before the movie's story starts. She was married to Professor Rory, who journeys to the woods to study the changelings, hoping to capture one and turn it into his late wife.

He kind of succeeds, but when Rory realizes he cannot control the creature, Madeline kills him. She remains in the coop to study her fellow captives and hopes for a way to escape. Mina is the one who finally figures it out, and Madeline, Ciara, and Mina flee in the end. Poor Daniel falls prey to one of the fae traps, and they kill him.

When they finally escape, Mina goes to the university where Professor Rory worked to destroy all of his research and findings so no one else makes the same mistake he did. There, she stumbles upon the real Madeline's obituary and old photographs showing her and Rory together.

Mina realizes the truth, that Madeline is a changeling, and goes to visit Ciara to warn her. However, another twist is revealed during a climactic showdown between Mina and Madeline, as the latter tries to kill Mina. We learn that Madeline is a halfling, part human and part fae, allowing her to walk in daylight and escape the forest.

The Watchers ending teases a potential sequel

This realization of her true self allows Madeline to regrow her wings. She allows Mina to live and leaves, but from then on, Madeline follows Mina secretly, taking on new forms to blend into the crowd. The film's final shot is Madeline disguised as a little girl, watching Mina as she visits her twin sister, Lucy.

The ending hints at more to come, and a sequel film may happen because A.M. Shine's second novel, Stay in the Light, is coming out in October of this year. Book two will follow Mina as she tries to find a way to protect humankind from the Watchers' growing power.

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