Sometimes the energy a movie exudes is enough to make it satisfying. While that might sound like damning with faint praise, it's anything but for director Chloe Okuno's new film "Watcher." The movie draws you into its 1970s-style slow burn thriller intensity with such ease and precision, you won't feel it sneaking up on you right away.
Okuno, who co-wrote the screenplay with Zack Ford, is making her feature film debut here (she previously directed shorts and a segment in the horror anthology "V/H/S/94") and is a filmmaker to be excited about. Her influences are clear but "Watcher" never feels like a riff or pastiche. Okuno has created her own twisted and tense film, which will put her on the map for future projects.
Maika Monroe stars as Julia, whose husband Francis (Karl Glusman) was recently promoted to a position in Romania, where his family is from. They pack up their lives in New York and move to a place where Julia doesn't speak the language. Her husband is able to translate for her but it doesn't make Julia feel like any less of a stranger in a strangeland.
No subtitles are used in "Watcher," which may frustrate some viewers, but that's the point. Okuno's decision to not use any text on screen helps us get in Julia's head and allows us to be lost with her. Julia is already having a hard time adapting to her new life, but then she becomes convinced a neighbor from a nearby building is peering into her apartment and following her every move. As her paranoia increases, naturally everyone thinks she is losing her mind.
"Watcher" doesn't present a story we haven't seen before, but how Okuno goes about telling it is why the movie works so well. The movie builds steadily and avoids cheap tricks for thrills. Monroe has been in her share of thrillers ("It Follows" and the excellent "The Guest") and she brings a different level of commitment to each role, so it never feels like she is duplicating a performance.
A great deal of "Watcher" lives in the shadows. Okuno and cinematographer Benjamin Kirk Nielsen keep a lot of the shots wide, which makes any potential danger feel on the periphery, when Julia is convinced it's behind her every step of the way. It's rare for a movie to earn its thrills without relying on schlock, but "Watcher" does just that.
| Movie title | Watcher |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2022 |
| MPAA Rating | |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | This new debut thriller is a slow-and-steady creeper that builds its intensity every step of the way. |
