phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2024

Watcher



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 36m
Country: United Arab Emirates, USA, Romania
Language: English, Romanian
Genre Tags: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: A young American woman moves with her husband to Bucharest, and begins to suspect that a stranger who watches her from an apartment window may be a serial killer.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Like Rosemary's Baby, the real horror is the patriarchy. (The real horror is always the patriarchy.) Maika Monroe correctly assesses the situation with her creepy neighbor across the way, but none of the other men in the movie believe her or really care about it, even the boyfriend who literally says he'll take care of her. They have a great argument where she says she wants to leave, he talks over her and asks what she wants, she says she wants him to believe her, and he blathers some more before asking what she wants from him. I literally shouted at my TV, "She literally just told you!" And that's what this movie is like. Nothing really happens most of the runtime, but there is an ominous sense of danger lurking everywhere. Maika Monroe is excellent at emoting every subtle feeling she's having without having to resort to dialogue. Even if she really is a little paranoid, she's definitely scared, and that's not nothing. Her expression at the very end of the movie is solid gold and, though it's the perfect ending, I really want to hear the argument that comes after it.


Outside Reviews:

Sheila O'Malley
3 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher,” a chilly and elegant thriller, embodies Julia’s state of mind in every aspect: the visuals, sound design, production design, color scheme, not to mention Monroe’s visceral central performance—all work together to express Julia’s point of view, so much so that doubt arises in regards to Julia’s reliability as the narrator of her own life. This is a stylized affair, and the care taken with every choice—the apartment interior, the furnishings, the color of the curtains, Julia’s red sweater and red tights, etc.—is meticulous. The film crackles with icy dread. Silences are loud and sounds are even louder. Nothing has the right proportion. Ceilings are too high, stairways too long. Voices emerge as if from the bottom of a well. Spaces are empty that should be full and vice versa. The mundane is terrifying, and the terrifying seduces. Nothing feels right. This is highly subjective filmmaking.


Luke Y. Thompson
B+ - Watcher wants you to believe your eyes—and then judges you for it

On its face, Watcher is a fairly conventional narrative about a woman and a possible stalker in the apartment across the road. But director Chloe Okuno has more on her mind than Repulsion-like “woman alone going crazy” vibes, or even Rear Window’s audience-indicting voyeurism. Okuno is more concerned with one simple message: believe women. Her heroine Julia (Maika Monroe) never doubts her suspicions and fears, and never has to, because every man around her is there to do that for her.