Watching Nature (CREDIT: IFC Films/Screenshot; Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)

In a Violent Nature

Starring: Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Sam Roulston, Alexander Oliver, Lauren Taylor, Timothy Paul McCarthy

Director: Chris Nash

Running Time: 94 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: May 31, 2024 (Theaters)

Stomach was knotted (from ice cream)

The Watchers

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Olwen Fouéré, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, Alistair Brammer, John Lynch

Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: June 7, 2024 (Theaters)

While watching the naturalistic slasher In a Violent Nature, I made my way through a couple of scoops of ice cream. Alas, they didn’t go down too easily, so my stomach ended up in knots quite a bit. It was far from the worst stomach ache I’ve ever had, but this probably wasn’t the most advisable snack choice for this particular movie. Which is all to say: the excessive gore wasn’t the reason that In a Violent Nature was hard to stomach

A week later, I saw another horror flick and ate ice cream once again. I didn’t plan it that way! It’s just that, I love horror and ice cream both so much, so that combination tends to happen quite often. Anyway, this time it was Ishana Night Shyamalan’s directorial debut, The Watchers, and my stomach behaved much more cooperatively this time around. But I think it was appropriate that I was chowing down on any grub really, as this flick turned out to be a supernatural alternative history lesson, and you need your brain to be nourished when you’re strapped in for a lecture.

Grades:
In a Violent Nature: 7 Bends out of 10 Blades
The Watchers: 6 Tunnels out of 9 Hallucinations