Watcher
IFC Films | Release Date: June 3, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesLena WilsonJun 2, 2022
One of this century’s most arresting tales of female anxiety. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellNov 7, 2022
Okuno’s Watcher is smart, engaging and intelligent, and it’s especially refreshing to see this sort of mid-budget, grown-up genre film getting a proper theatrical release. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 7, 2022
There are few genuine surprises, perhaps, but there are distinctive elements here which set the film apart, not least the way lack of fluency in a language (Julia’s Romanian is sparse to non-existent) creates a sense of siege. Read full review
80
Time OutAnna BogutskayaNov 2, 2022
Okuno’s direction and Monroe’s performance, together, create a simmering anxiety that never really relents, not even when we know the answers to the questions that are consuming Julia: is that man really watching me and, if so, what does he want from me? Read full review
80
The GuardianMike McCahillNov 2, 2022
Unimprovably brisk at 91 minutes, Watcher is not messing around – and probably won’t hang around long in cinemas with starry awards fare in the offing. But a few more of these nifty diversions, and the multiplexes might once again be a viable night out. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshJun 1, 2022
This beautifully crafted jewel of a throwback thriller signifies Okuno as a talent to watch, but furthermore, it pushes the viewer to question what, and who, we choose to believe and why. Read full review
79
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiJun 2, 2022
It’s a film about a bleak and cruel universe that is unkind to victims and eager to ignore reasonable pleas, a world that has a conscious and subconscious vendetta against women in general. It’s also a film that thinks it’s entirely possible to destroy that world, as terrifying as it is, and ultimately, it’s the movie’s principled strength that endures. Read full review
79
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 26, 2022
Watcher flourishes as it complicates its premise beyond the unknowable and faceless desires of a shadowy silhouette. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJun 1, 2022
Coldly gorgeous and never less than enthralling, Watcher is undoubtedly worth watching. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJun 3, 2022
Writer-director Chloe Okuno has a remarkably sure hand for mood-building in her feature debut, using the winding alleys and tree-lined boulevards of Bucharest to woozy, enveloping affect. But she gives her star so few specific contours that Julia mostly comes off as a beautiful cipher and an increasingly maddening protagonist to root for, seemingly both paranoid and obtuse. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 3, 2022
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. Read full review
75
Original-CinThom ErnstJun 2, 2022
Watcher is a successful thriller, good enough to hold viewers through its three acts and into the final scene. But the reward for sticking around might not be the payoff viewers were waiting for. Neither is it all that original. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleJun 2, 2022
Okuno’s taut feature artfully reconstructs a Hitchcockian thriller around, yes, a blonde heroine in Monroe, but one with her own gaze and distinct anxieties. Read full review
75
ColliderTherese LacsonApr 25, 2022
Okuno is certainly not showing us anything we haven't seen before, indeed these stories are all too familiar, unfortunately. But the skill is not making the horror indulgent. Julia's dread is something we feel distinctly. Monroe, someone familiar with the horror genre, is perfect as our hero who is equal parts determined and terrified. Read full review
75
The Film StageJake Kring-SchreifelsJan 26, 2022
[Okuno’s] made a smart, controlled movie of pricks and gestures and tones that accumulate into a satisfying catharsis. And perhaps validated the urge to follow your gut. Read full review
74
PolygonJesse HassengerJun 3, 2022
Its creepy unease lingers, and just as in It Follows and The Guest, Monroe is the face of that unease. That’s the power of a great scream queen. Read full review
70
IGNAmelia EmberwingJun 10, 2022
Chloe Okuno’s stalker flick is so solid that that’s hard to believe that this is her first foray into feature-length films. The story will linger too long for some, but anyone willing to stick with it is in for a treat. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 2, 2022
Eventually the film's subtlety gives way to a more straightforward conclusion. But Okuno and Monroe still make Watcher worth watching. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 28, 2022
The film is led by Maika Monroe’s fragile performance, which grounds the story even when the proceedings start to become formulaic. Read full review
70
Film ThreatNorman GidneyJan 26, 2022
This classically styled thriller plays on universal themes of alienation to deliver a punchy diversion with macabre tints and a love of the genre. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerJan 26, 2022
In a genre movie climate marked by cheap thrills and easy scares — whatever gets us not to click on something else — it’s nice to see a film that sustains a strong ambiance of dread simply via someone looking out the window and shopping for groceries. Read full review
70
VarietyJessica KiangJan 26, 2022
Watcher, if it has an agenda beyond being a fun, shivery, fish-out-of-water chiller, is not so much a manifesto to Believe All Women as it is a reminder to all women watching to at least believe ourselves. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonMay 30, 2022
Without spoiling, this is one movie where it’d be extremely interesting to know what happens five minutes after the final scene. But while the subsequent events may be up for vigorous debate, the film’s message is crystal clear: Screw you if you ever doubted a woman afraid for her safety. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJan 25, 2022
Watcher gives a feminist twist to a throwback genre, but never does its topicality dilute its gripping suspense. Read full review
58
IndieWireSusannah GruderJan 26, 2022
Instead of leaning into the ambiguous tensions and uncanny experiences, Watcher fails to live up to its inspirations, ending up a heavy-handed, predictable trip through genre tropes with a rather lifeless cast at its core. Watcher spells out every plot point to a tee, when we wish it would slowly, playfully tug at the threads of our anxieties. Read full review
50
The PlaylistElena LazicJan 26, 2022
Monroe does a lot to sustain what tension there is during the more perfunctory moments, delivering a seemingly effortless performance as a dejected young woman who approaches both her confusing new circumstances and the mystery that occupies her thoughts with calm and pragmatic patience, as well as curiosity. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 26, 2022
It's all appropriately eerie and off-putting, but never quite as satisfying as it should be. Watching Watcher isn't a complete disappointment, but it sure would be nice if there was just a little more to look at. Read full review
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