First trailer for Twilight and Barbarian star's new horror movie promises a freaky folklore frightfest

Warner Bros. has unveiled the first trailer for new horror movie The Watchers – or The Watched if you're in the UK – and if folklore frights are your favorite sub-genre, then it's safe to say you're not going to want to miss this one.

Starring Georgina Campbell (Barbarian), Oliver Finnegan, Olwen Fouéré, and Dakota Fanning, the film is based on A. M. Shine's novel of the same name. It follows Mina, a young artist who finds herself trapped in a remote, concrete cabin with three strangers after getting lost in a forest in western Ireland. There, she discovers that the trio are, essentially, prisoners in the weird-looking shelter; rarely stepping outside its walls due to the mysterious woodland creatures that observe their every move and stalk them each night. Think The Ritual.

Ishana Night Shyamalan, seemingly having picked up her father M. Night Shyamalan's flair for the supernatural, directs. Given her pop's love of twists and rug-pulls, and this story's similarities to his 2004 thriller The Village, we can only imagine what The Watchers has in store...

Dakota Fanning in The Watchers

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Unsurprisingly, the teaser, which you can watch above, doesn't give all that much away. In it, we see Fanning's Mina idly pass the time in the hideout by listening to music and playing ancient DVDs on the retro TV. 

"What is this place? Who are you?" she asks the others, in a scene that presumably takes place before the montage of monotony and boredom. 

"We're just like you... Lost. They'll be very interested in someone new," replies Fouéré's character, as Campbell's ominously adds: "They come every night. They watch us until the sun rises again. It's a window on the other side."

The Watchers releases on June 7. While we wait, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time or our breakdown of the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.