Yahoo Movies The Watched's Ishana Night Shyamalan enjoys "having something to prove"
Ishana Night Shyamalan has opened up on the preconceived notions viewers may have of her feature debut The Watched.
The horror film sees Dakota Fanning starring as Mina, an artist who gets stranded in a vast forest in Western Ireland. After finding shelter she becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are stalked by mysterious creatures every night.
The film is produced by Ishana's father and legendary director M. Night Shyamalan, famed for his twisty endings in horror classics such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Split, Glass and The Visit, among others.
As such, many viewers going into The Watched – also known as The Watchers to US audiences – may have certain expectations, something Ishana enjoyed playing with.
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In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, she said: "I was really interested in sort of playing with those expectations. Knowing that my being by him and the kind of audience expects from his filmmaking, I was interested in using that as a thing to start with and then kind of subverting that and surprising you as to where the movie goes and what the tone is, even.
"I think that's all wonderful. I really enjoy having something to prove and starting with what people think."
It's not the first time Ishana has worked alongside her father, as she directed several episodes for horror series Servant, where her dad was a showrunner. She also directed the second unit of his films Old and Knock at the Cabin.
Following her lead role in the film, Fanning described Ishana as "such a creative, artistic person" who put so much thought into her directorial debut.
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"I think every director is unique, no matter what their experience is. Personalities are unique, ways of working and ways of talking about scripts are unique, rehearsal styles are different, so I think it's always a singular experience working with any director, regardless of what they've done before," she told Digital Spy.
"With Ishana, this may be her debut feature film, but she's such a creative, artistic person and has done so much thinking about the film that she wanted to make and the world that she wanted to create, so it was wonderful getting to be a part of that with her.
"She comes from a family that's very creative obviously, and so it was very inspiring to see her forging her own path within that. I loved getting to work with her and getting to know her, she's also a really nice, wonderful person and happy to have her as a friend as well.
"We could find things as young women to relate on that you don't always find with the director that you're working with."
The Watched is released in cinemas on June 7.
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