Watcher movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Watcher

This psychological thriller by IFC Films is now available on Video on Demand.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 31 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

A young American woman moves with her husband to Bucharest for his job promotion and begins to suspect that a stranger who watches her from the apartment building across the street may be a local serial killer.

The movie is skillfully directed by first-time filmmaker Chloe Okuno, who does a great job getting inside the head of a woman. Chloe Okuno also co-wrote the screenplay with Zack Ford.

THINGS I LIKED:

There’s a Hitchcock feeling to it, which is probably one of the biggest compliments it could receive.
I had only seen Maika Monroe once in something before: Labor Day. She did an excellent job and I’m interested in seeing more. Believe it or not, she was a competitive kiteboarder before she decided to have a movie career!
The cast also includes Karl Glusman, and Burn Gorman, among others.
The director does an excellent job building tension.
A LOT of Romanian is spoken without subtitles intentionally. It might be frustrating to not understand everything that’s being said, but we’re supposed to feel isolated and confused like the American wife.
We get to travel to Bucharest, Romania. I love visiting countries in the movies!
The camerawork is outstanding. It lingers just long enough on something or someone, making you feel uncomfortable and wondering about its significance.
Yep, there are plenty of jump scares.
I’m intrigued that the title is somewhat vague: who is watching who?

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Many things are spoken so softly that it’s hard to understand.
Act 1 is very slow; however, things pick up 25 minutes in.
The end of the movie is abrupt. I thought it said everything it needed to, but I’ve heard some complaints about it. What bothered me about it was that it wasn’t plausible at all given what we saw a few minutes prior.
We’ve seen this kind of story before, but it’s still enjoyable to watch because it’s so well crafted.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A LOT of Romanian is spoken without subtitles
You see a married couple start to go at it on a couch as they begin to take their clothes off.
A murder is talked about
Some blood and gore. You see a decapitated body.
You see topless women dancing in a peek-show facility.