IFC Films | Release Date: June 3, 2022
6.2
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 67 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
33
Mixed:
28
Negative:
6
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7
reporterreporteJun 18, 2022
The film is good. And I think the good films such as this film deserve better box office.
2 of 2 users found this helpful20
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7
RMellJun 4, 2022
If it’s not exactly in Hitchcock’s neighborhood, Watcher is in the same zip code. There’s an echo of Rear Window through the gloomy, canyon streets of the Bucharest apartment district at center stage of this film. This time the creepy chillIf it’s not exactly in Hitchcock’s neighborhood, Watcher is in the same zip code. There’s an echo of Rear Window through the gloomy, canyon streets of the Bucharest apartment district at center stage of this film. This time the creepy chill isn’t coming in what we see in a bored protagonist’s voyeurism. It is in what we feel growing in Julia, a bored, vulnerable wife who believes she’s being watched in this stylish thriller. Maika Monroe plays Julia with superb sensitivity, with a face that more eloquently reveals the angst she’s feeling than words can. First-time feature film director Chloe Okuno uses Monroe’s face the way Hitchcock could use faces, as canvas best suited to convey foreboding and dread. Monroe carries this film through its slow but elegant pace, and Okuno seduces us through any predictable turn. Okuno does so with the kinship she makes us feel for her star. This film is all about being watched, and Okuno and Monroe make Julia worth watching. This isn’t a slasher film, though there’s a gruesome glimpse of a violent act near the end. The tension is almost entirely built the way Hitchcock built it, in what we sense is coming, in what we think’s around the corner. There’s a terrific scene Okuno gives us on a subway, a closeup of a plastic grocery bag being carried by a mysterious neighbor. What the hell’s in that bag? It’s a masterful snapshot of the entire movie’s appeal. Again, it's not Hitchcock, so don't go expecting it to reach that high bar. But if you like Hitchcock, there are landmarks you'll appreciate seeing on Julia's journey through the neighborhood. Expand
2 of 2 users found this helpful20
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9
RomanianParrotSep 9, 2022
I felt that Watcher was a fantastic movie. As a man, I felt that it was easy to relate to the female protagonist’s sense of doom and unease. This is a good example of “show — don’t tell”. The director did not beat the viewer over the headI felt that Watcher was a fantastic movie. As a man, I felt that it was easy to relate to the female protagonist’s sense of doom and unease. This is a good example of “show — don’t tell”. The director did not beat the viewer over the head with quasi-feminist/anti-patriarchal rhetoric and didn’t rely on any kind of hamfisted symbolism to get a point across. The film was truly subtle and I felt very connected with the characters, even if I can’t relate necessarily to their anxieties. People who may be looking for cheap thrills and action could call this approach “boring” — but I disagree. I was on edge the entire time. Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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7
Badgerryan27Sep 17, 2022
I enjoyed this one. Very suspenseful and it has a great runtime without it outstaying its welcome. Had great thrills throughout and kept you guessing until the end.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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10
GinaKJun 20, 2022
A perfect ten for fans of Alfred Hitchcock (namely, Psycho) and the best psychological horror. There is no shower scene, but the murder itself is graphic. But that is not the essence of this film, which is really about a woman who triesA perfect ten for fans of Alfred Hitchcock (namely, Psycho) and the best psychological horror. There is no shower scene, but the murder itself is graphic. But that is not the essence of this film, which is really about a woman who tries desperately to convince her husband and her neighbors that she is being stalked. They don’t believe her until they see the tragic result. She tries everything to convince her husband and her neighbors, but no one believes her. The result is terrifying, graphic, and very, very sad. Expand
1 of 2 users found this helpful11
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10
Daniel_EndureJun 5, 2022
This is a very slow-paced nail-biter with little going on to ramp up the need for a high budget. What it presents in place of action is tension, and it's executed nearly flawlessly.
1 of 3 users found this helpful12
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8
CalvinCrackJun 3, 2022
Excellent work by all involved. I expect big things from the people behind this film. The director Chloe Okuno completely dominates this story. The fact it's a simple premise makes it more impressive that so much tension is mined from it.Excellent work by all involved. I expect big things from the people behind this film. The director Chloe Okuno completely dominates this story. The fact it's a simple premise makes it more impressive that so much tension is mined from it. Chloe is going places. I'd like to give special praise to the cinematographer Benjamin Kirk Nielsen as well. He and Chloe work well together to create arresting shots that tell the story in an attractive way without being distracting. In front of the camera, the movie was well cast. Maika gives a great lead performance with the right balance of teancity and vulnerability. She acts well as an audience surrogate and the character has been written scarcely enough that we are invited to step into her shoes. The rest of the cast is great too, with various archetypes being fulfilled in interesting ways. This is a little horror gem. It's 90 minutes, straight to the point and entertaining throughout. Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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4
KingDavidthe1stJun 25, 2022
Ugh. How long do I have to wait for anything interesting to happen. Short on suspense and drama. And, the character is just so fragile... come on. Are we to believe such a fragile bunny would pack up and move to a foreign country whereUgh. How long do I have to wait for anything interesting to happen. Short on suspense and drama. And, the character is just so fragile... come on. Are we to believe such a fragile bunny would pack up and move to a foreign country where she knows no one, doesn't know the language and have a boyfriend that provides zero support? Blah. Big fan of lead actress and the bad guy actor... but, really wasted w/ weak script, story... Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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5
IntakeCinemaJul 5, 2022
This is fine... These types of films just bore me to no end. The film looks pretty good and the performances are good, but there just wasn't anything here that really held my attention.
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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7
alanpotter17Jul 27, 2023
Uma ambientação clássica, que pelo estilo de câmera, enquadramento, trilha e tempo de tela, meio lenta, mas não arrastada, consegue transportar você para o clima de estar sendo observado, e a escolha em não traduzir os diálogos romanos foiUma ambientação clássica, que pelo estilo de câmera, enquadramento, trilha e tempo de tela, meio lenta, mas não arrastada, consegue transportar você para o clima de estar sendo observado, e a escolha em não traduzir os diálogos romanos foi perfeita, tornando o ambiente muito mais claustrofóbico.
Embora seja completamente fácil descobrir o plost, aqui a questão é a forma como tudo vai sendo desenvolvido, num filme que não se demora, mas também não tem pressa. As cenas de suspense conseguem passar a tensão necessária, e sinceramente, para a atual produção de filmes de gênero, isso é o suficiente para se destacar. As atuações estão perfeitas.
Algumas decisões do roteiro só me incomodaram lá para o final, como o pouco tempo de presença do vilão em tela, merecia alguns minutos a mais para explorar o suspense. Ainda assim, é um filme que consegue passar o que tinha de passar.
Infelizmente é um roteiro de pouco aproveitamento, e como já dito, as resoluções ocorrem rápidas demais no desfecho. Assim, embora o caminho seja de excelência, há uma espécie de "sabotagem" do roteiro ao partir para resoluções simplistas e caricatas, não condizentes com a atmosfera inebriante vista até então.
Pelo menos é tudo muito crível para ser simplesmente ignorado, a sensação de estar stakeando ou de ser um stalk é passada ao espectador, r por isso vale muito conferir.
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8
bertobellamyNov 4, 2022
Hitchcockian thriller with a subtle yet very important feminist angle. 'Watcher' is a great slow-burn that explores the gaslighting problem with an intriguing violent tale. Great acting, a good screenplay, and a minimalist approach are theHitchcockian thriller with a subtle yet very important feminist angle. 'Watcher' is a great slow-burn that explores the gaslighting problem with an intriguing violent tale. Great acting, a good screenplay, and a minimalist approach are the ingredients that make this fine debut a must-see. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
Voodoo123Jan 11, 2023
The fantastic cinematography and pacing can't help the shallow rear window style script and predictable plot from failing to build tension. Cast were ok at best although the direction was very good. In such an oversaturated genre this failedThe fantastic cinematography and pacing can't help the shallow rear window style script and predictable plot from failing to build tension. Cast were ok at best although the direction was very good. In such an oversaturated genre this failed to excite me beyond the average. The choice of ending was a terrible mistake. Overall worth a watch for thriller fans. Expand
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6
OrukayuJan 22, 2023
2022 thriller movie. The couple, who are American, move to Romania as a result of the appointment of the man. They are holding a house. For some reason they don't have curtains. At the first stage, they don't care much. Then a woman is killed2022 thriller movie. The couple, who are American, move to Romania as a result of the appointment of the man. They are holding a house. For some reason they don't have curtains. At the first stage, they don't care much. Then a woman is killed in the neighborhood. In the news (which is the news of Kanal D), it is said that the woman was followed before. The female of our curtainless couple sees someone watching from a flat opposite. Then she realizes that the same man is watching her outside. Everyone, including her husband, diagnoses the woman with paranoia.

There is a love scene at the beginning of the movie. No sex or nudity afterwards. Average thriller.
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5
Mauro_LanariJun 22, 2023
(Mauro Lanari)
Sundance debut burdened by the overload of old reflections between Sofia Coppola and Alfred Hitchcock, from "when you're feeling alone, you're probably not" to a long reverse shot of "Rear Window" and from De Palma's eroticism
(Mauro Lanari)
Sundance debut burdened by the overload of old reflections between Sofia Coppola and Alfred Hitchcock, from "when you're feeling alone, you're probably not" to a long reverse shot of "Rear Window" and from De Palma's eroticism to the metacinematographic of "Peeping Tom", and of new fixations such as toxic masculinity. Pretty sure that curtains exist in Bucharest.
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5
hnestlyontheslyMay 22, 2023
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Watcher is of a simpler time, though it’s hard to know if that simplicity is a symptom of pandemic era production protocols or a production schedule that rolled out a blander copy of Kimi nearly a year after we all emerged from our apartments and wandered the wide earth to seek new pastures.

This movie review breaks one of the cardinal rules of HotS, which is that the film has to be currently in theaters (or about to be, as in the case with the Cinejoy Film Festival that’s starting tomorrow), but it falls into the confluence of several different interests I’ve been building momentum towards for a few months, so it might be work keeping on the books for future reference. The confluence in question is 1) after seeing Andrea Riseborough in Please Baby Please, I wanted to see what else the dashing Karl Glusman had been in besides Nocturnal Animals and this movie was his most recent work; 2) readers of this blog know that I have a healthy appreciation for the weirdly specific Amazon Prime genre of voyeur thrillers; and last but not least, my ongoing theory that a lot of movies in that genre (Puzzle, Woman in the House/Window, Kimi) would be solved by the (white) woman lead getting a job, literally any job.

There are a lot of reasons to be open to this movie, independent of whether you share in my weird fascination with these three above characteristics. The lead, for instance, Maika Monroe, was the star of indie darling It Follows and featured in the wonderful slow burner Hot Summer Nights with Timothee Chalamet. Our villain is the brilliant character actor Burn Gorman, of Pacific Rim, Dark Knight Rises, Guillermo del Toro’s most recent creepypasta remake of Pinnochio, and many other scary thriller-y things. This is the directorial debut of Chloe Okuno, who had previously co-directed a horror film called VHS 94 which looks very weird, and previous to that a short film which I’m going to link to below, which also seems of a piece with her wild and fun-loving scream queen aesthetic. In implementation of these resources, however, The Watcher is nothing special. It is in all aspects unoriginal, with only the thinnest possible commentary on the months of isolation that were endured by the world. On that dubious-no-one-has-even-mentioned-so-why-did-I-consider-it score, the movie indulges in the fantasy that the pandemic either never happened or is not ongoing, making it in some ways a little less outstanding than its contemporary Kimi, which had the obvious advantage of some amazing wigs. The Watcher violates the audience’s sacred compact (exchange of suspension of disbelief for reliable narration) by including at least one dream sequence which is not flagged as such, opening the can of worms, as Wife puts it, for anything to be imagined, or everything, which actually has the opposite effect on the tension, lowering the highs by making them all possible moments for the protagonist to wake up in bed and whisper “that was spooky” to herself.

It’s hard to ascribe high-minded commentary to a movie whose major problem would be solved by the main character picking up some part time editing work from home while her husband brings home the bacon. Maybe a bridge group? Online poker? Honestly any hobby would have prevented this entire scenario from playing out. And if we’re going to spoil anything here, it’s worth mentioning that the real hero of this movie, Julia’s (Monroe) neighbor Irina, whose approach to the world of the (sometimes) aggressive world of the male gaze is to profit off of it at work, tell it to **** off when it pounds on her door, and ignore it while having a cocktail with a friend, really does not get the ending one might expect from a movie trying to navigate a middle path. If anything, Irina’s end is a signal that Watcher lacks a level of sophistication. Watcher is not sexy. It is not exciting. It’s bland workplace gossip and white girl in a new city angst. Maika Monroe continues to be an unadulerated boss **** but this is not the role she deserves.
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9
HabibiehakimJun 30, 2022
Watcher is another familiar, similar, inspired (or whatever you wanna called it) Rear Window type of movie, and for me no matter if it's the same or familiar or similar as long as it's made rightly then it's still can be a good movie, WatcherWatcher is another familiar, similar, inspired (or whatever you wanna called it) Rear Window type of movie, and for me no matter if it's the same or familiar or similar as long as it's made rightly then it's still can be a good movie, Watcher surprisingly did pretty much rightly, and the movie fills with convincing main characters well performly played by Maika Monroe, the tenseful feeling is works perfectly, it's so intense and i legit got scared and it's good because another great things about this movie besides the convincing main characters is the main killer of this film, i don't wanna give away who, but they pick a perfect person to do it, so menacing and terrifying, i was also enjoyed the movie thoroughly, got invest to the story, and overall Watcher is surprisingly a really good nice little film. Expand
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5
RohmoSep 20, 2022
A tense paranoia that strives with tension but ultimately doesn't pay off in the end...
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4
royalguy07Aug 4, 2022
Thriller heavily lacking on thrills. The Ending was improved from the rest and brutal.
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6
NForTheThrillFeb 22, 2023
It went to slow it needed more action happening I'm a fan of Malika Monroe so I'll give it a 6
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0
tuckaliciousMar 15, 2023
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The movie is HORRENDOUS…. Acting is absolutely terrible, except the murderer. There is a scene with a character gone missing and like 8 people enter her house and look at a closet door that’s cracked open a smidge, OBVIOUSLY someone in there, and they don’t open it, come to find out, the killer and a dying woman were in there. Terrible movie, first 30 minutes not too bad but everything else is really bad. Expand
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