Voyeurism is a layered topic worth exploring in the world of contemporary horror. One of the many terrifying things a woman or anyone can encounter is the ubiquitous sensation of being watched, which is contrasted with paranoia and fear. The feeling is overwhelming on top of being in a situation where one feels alone and misunderstood in a place unaccustomed to one’s way of life. It is genuinely terrifying when these intense emotions serve to validate these paranoid feelings.This setting serves as the focal pointof the most recent stalker slasher,Watcher, which subverts the stalker subgenre and produces a distinctly unsettling and unique experience.
Alfred Hitchcock understood this experience, maybe a little all too intimately. It would lead him to make one of the best features of his career,Rear Window. Not only would it be the poster child for many horror and thrillers that would come after, but it would redefine the tension and strong anxiety that comes with being watched in a cinematic experience. Best known for her work inV/H/S 94, Chloe Okuno takes the ‘Master of Suspense’s concept and gives it an innovative nod with her debut film,Watcher.
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Watchercreatively mixes the themes of one moving into unfamiliar territory withRear Window’sover-looming concepts of boredom, overactiveimagination, paranoia, and the infamous “Peeping Tom’tropes to their ultimate extents, and from the very beginning, she subverts them in every way.
The story ofWatcherstarts with failing actress Julia (Maika Monroe), who relocates to Bucharest with her husband Francis (Karl Glusman), who is doing well at his job and takes a new marketing position in their new location. This all seems to work out in his favor, as he speaks the language fluently thanks to his mother’s native proficiency, whereas for Julia, things are already going poorly. The viewer can tell that Julia has become bored and is looking for more in her existence because her acting career isn’t going the way she needs it to right now. Because she’s also been relocated to an unfamiliar place, it only heightens the tension of feeling aimless or like life is without purpose. To contain the boredom,she tries her best to acclimate to the cityand learn the language for her husband, but an overpowering sensation lingers that something doesn’t feel quite right.
When they move into a new apartment, it contains a large window. Julia peers through the window one late night as rain drenches her window pane and notices a stranger gazing at her opposite his window across the way. Hitchcockian in its delivery, the tension, suspense, and strongly voyeuristic tone are all dark and beautifully nodded at. However, director Chloe Okuno subverts this sophisticated approach with something more stratified.
Other incidents occur after she unintentionally interacts with the enigmatic man through a window, adding to Julia’s sense of unease. A murder of a woman occurs after they take a walk that night. An ambulance and a crowd are populated around the scene as they watch in horror what happened. After learning more about the murder from the news,Julia’s concerns are confirmed when she learnsthe woman’s body had its head severed during a dinner with Francis’ coworkers, as it is related to other attacks.
The following day, after doing more research, she learns about “The Spider,” a serial killer who has a history of preying on younger women. As she continues to attempt to make the best of her situation in Bucharest, she notices that the same man who was watching her through the window keeps following her wherever she goes. From the movie theater, she goes to the supermarket, where she tries to evade him, but to no avail, until she sneaks behind the back employee entrance of the supermarket and runs away. That night she tells her husband everything that has happened, and they visit the supermarket the next day.She finds that this is the same personthat was following her, and she takes photos of him. Her husband does not believe her at this point and believes she is overreacting to this man’s actions.
At this point, the characters' interactions overturn and even celebrate the ideas presented inRear Windowby Hitchcock. Her sleepless night and boredom are what first causes her to notice the stranger in the window, which in turn leads to an initial, albeit almost subtle, connection with her. Okuno wants us to have faith in the slow-burn method. She ventures out to make the best of her predicament because she ultimately feels trapped in it.By portraying this as just another dayfor Julie, Okuno dangerously elevates the situation from passive observation to obsessive stalking.
She has removed those obstructions from his path, so the limits he cannot breach are immaterial. Since the obstacles have been removed, he will cross any line necessary to get what he wants. The ideas of isolation and trust are also challenged by Okuno. Her husband believes she is exaggerating her ideas about the man in the window, which continues to support the isolationist idea Okuno pushes for Julia. Julia already feels alone, and the lack of belief from her partner makes this a terrifying experience,gradually heightening her sense of lonelinessand the haunting notion that the only person that can protect her is herself.
She finds solace in her neighbor Irina (Madalina Anea) during this time. Interrupting their evening, Irina tells Christian (Daniel Nuta), her ex-boyfriend, to leave when he arrives, and the evening continues. She then shows off the pistol her ex-boyfriend gave her as a present, so she can defend herself should she ever need it. When Julia returns from her outing with her new friend, she discovers that the previous stranger is still peering in the window. She waves politely to the stranger through the window to see if her theory is correct, only for him to sickeningly wave back. They dial the police when her husband gets home. She makes an effort to persuade the authorities and her husband that the person they saw on CCTV and the person in the window is the same. Although the police officer and her husband don’t appear to believe her, they still go to investigate.Her suspicions are confirmed when they learnthe man’s name is Daniel Webber (Burn Goreman) and that he is indeed the same person, but her husband still disputes the veracity of her allegations.
WhileWatcher’ssetting with a serial killer is more up-to-date and graphic, Okuno still beautifully upholds the thriller concept. While maintaining the nostalgic guise of 1990s thrillers, the formula is kept very similar to the cinematic formula used inRear Window. Despite the familiarity with its narrative and setting, Okuno is brave enough to explore her strengths in the “less is more” approach. She contributes to this by focusing on making her protagonist feel as isolated as possible, even though the cinematography is undeniably opulent and adds to the dreadful feeling that is present throughout the film at this point. At this point, both her husband, Francis, and the authorities continue to gaslight her accusations against Daniel Webber.She becomes fixated on validating the truthabout her stalker. Taking the matter into her own hands, she reverses the roles.
One day, while she is out, she finds Irina working at a strip club while following Daniel there. Irina is then informed of everything that has happened, and she is cautioned about Daniel. Irina thanks her for telling her this, but she explains that there are so many people entering and leaving the club that she doesn’t remember him. After telling her to take care of herself, Julia departs. She hears screams coming from Irina’s apartment later that evening, along with the sound of a lamp falling over in the adjacent room. Julia begs frantically for the door to be opened.When they finally open it, they find only the neighbor’scat inside. The residents of the apartment building, including her husband, begin to tire of Julia’s “hallucinations.” He informs her that “The Spider” has been caught to allay her fears.
Okuno dials up the suspense here; relying on what is unsaid is far more terrifying than what is said. During many interactions, and there will be more like these, Okuno finds success in the unnervingly subtle interactions with the antagonist. The whole time they are searching the apartment during the commotion, the killer is hiding in the closet, close enough to touch his new victim, but not enough to bring attention to himself.A nod to the “Master of Suspense,“it also disrupts the traditional voyeuristic tone, giving it an unnerving edge.
Christian hasn’t seen Irina after work the next day and comes to search for her. Christian is shocked to learn that Julia has not seen her either. Concerned, he tells her they were supposed to meet after her shift that night, and that if she sees her to please let him know. Christian is asked to accompany Julia to the building across from them so that Julia can finally confront Daniel. No one answers the door when Christian knocks. Christian knocks on the door once more, requesting that whoever has been bothering Julia that they leave her alone.She goes back to the same doorafter he leaves, only to discover an elderly man standing on the other side.
She runs into her stalker as she prepares to leave. Later that night as she is getting ready for a party, the police arrive at her door, accusing her of stalking. But he hasn’t done it to report her; rather, he has gone out of his way to raise the stakes in his twisted stalking chess game. Okuno has progressed the obsession through stages, and each stage gets dangerously closer to being within touching distance. When Julia and Daniel shake hands in this intense scene, it appears to be a truce, but beneath the surface, it conveys something much darker.If he can touch her, he can also do away with her. Okuno once again demonstrates her ability to create scenes in which little is said but conveys a powerful message.
Following this interaction, Julia and Francis attend the company party, where Julia becomes the target of additional gaslighting. She finally leaves the party without Francis when she has had enough. When she boards the subway, she notices that Daniel is also on it. He approaches her and tries to explain why he has been obsessively watching her the entire time, blaming it all on his unfulfilling existence and concern for his father. Terrified she tries to find meaning in Daniel’s words, and for a moment he is almost convincing. She looks down and notices a bag with what appears to be a head inside.She quickly gets off the train and goes hometo pack her belongings. She walks in and hears music coming from Irina’s apartment.
For all the style and reticent moments of suspense,Watcherfocuses on things slowly coming to a head. This by no means suggests that Okuno doesn’t understand the cinematic process; quite the opposite.Watcheris a story built on paranoia and fears that intentionally takes its time to hold an audience’s attention while also drawing to its clever use of interactions between its characters. While many might see the turning point in this film as anything close to riveting, Okuno digs a bit deeper within its climax for viewers to find something worth their time. WhileWatcher’sisn’t a film that relies on surprises, the few unsettling ones we do get up to this point wrapped in the film’s tension are what make it so compelling to watch.Watchernot only overcomes nostalgia’s guisebut meets it head-on with innovatively crafted timing and suspense at every turn.
Happy to hear Irina’s music, she goes next door. She enters the apartment to see a headless corpse sitting in a chair. Before she has any time to react, Daniel takes a plastic bag and smothers her, rendering her unconscious. When she finally awakens, Daniel recounts how he killed Irina while also revealing that he has been “The Spider” this whole time. Since the walls are thin, she hears that Francis is coming home from the party and attempts to scream, but when she does, he slits her throat, leaving her to bleed out.Julia attempts to find the pistolChristian gave Irina, but to no avail. She loses consciousness from the loss of blood while Daniel watches her in her final moments. Or does she?
Unable to find Julia, her husband goes to check next door after hearing her cell phone ring. He walks through the hallway and sees Daniel walking out of Irina’s apartment. Before Francis can do anything, Daniel is fatally shot. Falling to the ground, Daniel is killed by a blood-soaked Julia, who stares at her husband with a look of red-tinged satisfaction. She not only confirms she was right about the killer the whole time, but by relying on her wits she was able to defeat and overcome her own hell and the killer himself.
Although the idea forRear Windowhas been used numerous times, it has never been written in such a creative manner.Watchermanages to keep old ideas fresh while using the slow-burn method to its fullest effect. Moreover, for a film that is a debut effort fromV/H/S’sbest anthology releases, it isn’t surprising thatWatcherdelivers. Some might say that its commitment to the classic formula holds it back, but one can also argue that the film’s classic resonance is its strongest feature. Building on its classic framework, it beautifully sews in many original moments that create a remarkably unforgettable experience. While it’s a slow-burner of an experience,Watcherbreathes life into the stalker subgenreand delivers a dark and chic thriller.
