MOVIE REVIEW – Watcher
June 7, 2022Watcher
I’ll be honest, my expectations for this movie were really low. Being a film distributed by streaming service Shudder, I was expecting a possibly schlocky, C grade Horror movie. I didn’t see ANY promotion for this movie, but the trailer seemed intriguing.
Watcher is about a woman named Julia, who moves to Bucharest with her husband when they relocate due to his job promotion. She doesn’t speak the language, he does. They move in a beautiful apartment with large picture windows, looking out to the apartment building across the street. As she looks out, she sees a figure in next apartment building looking back at her, or are they?
The movie builds on a type of “Rear Window” scenario where our protagonist is very suspicious about the neighbor across the way. Is she being watched, or is someone just wondering why Julia is watching them?
This movie is directed by Chloe Okuno, mostly known for her work in the Horror field, but this is an amazingly directed psychological thriller that shows Okuno is a talent to watch out for. This is a slow burn of a movie, and it builds the tension and the desire for a resolution up to its breaking point, but it’s so well constructed, I didn’t mind the waiting.
Maika Monroe stars as Julia, and a lot of this movie rests on her performance, and she is amazing. She appears in almost every screen, which makes it really easy to follow her on this journey as she wonders if she’s actually being stalked.
I was enthralled by this movie. It’s technically stunning, the story is simple, but classic. Great cinematography and sound design (especially at the movie theater). Mostly a suspenseful thriller with a few jump scares and Horror flourishes. Worked great in the theaters, but I think would also work well on the couch at home.
4 out of 5 stars
Marquee Mark