Watcher

I didn't really know much about "Watcher" before I started watching it. In truth there's not all that much to know to be honest:

A couple moves to Romania. Husband works while wife sits around waiting for him to come home. Wife believes that somebody is stalking her and husband thinks she is going crazy.

It sounds ridiculously simple because it is. We've seen it before - HOWEVER - Okuno clearly set out to make a brilliantly executed suspense flick and did just that.

The movie is contained and everything in it is there for a reason. Cinematography and especially the sound design is incredibly well done and makes the simplest thing like shopping for groceries an unnerving experience.

And finally the biggest praise has to go to Monroe. She has come a long way from "It Follows" and here she brings this simple movie to life with outstanding (and very believable) acting that successfully makes you question her sanity. Hopefully she'll bless us with her talent in many more (horror) movies to come.

Now obviously "Watcher" isn't the perfect movie even though everything is done so well. The fact is that we've seen it all before - countless times - and Okuno plays it extremely safe here by taking no chances whatsoever. This makes for an underwhelming movie experience as a whole and will no doubt bore some viewers.

Do I recommend "Watcher"? If you love suspense - YES. To witness Monroe's brilliant performance - YES. If you're looking for a great movie - NAH, go find something else.

I have to admit that I watched this alone in my room after dark, blinds are broken so the window perfectly exposed. There are some issues with the movie, like they had curtains they could've closed. But that wouldn't have changed the fact that she was being watched. She could have made less ambitious decisions, but if she played everything "smart" then we wouldn't have a movie to review. Great visuals, does a great job keeping the viewer anxious and paranoid. It's probably nothing you haven't seen before, but it's still got enough creep factor to deserve a watch. Definitely not something I'd watch again, but it was well done.

Great visuals. They did a good job of filming every scene to make everything look super creepy. Acting is mostly good, but I absolutely hated the husband's character. I get that he had to be that way to keep the story going, but man it's frustrating.

Above average thriller about people looking out of windows. I wonder where I've seen that before? Of course the entire premise would fail if they'd only buy some curtains like normal people but they don't. Maika Monroe plays the damsel in distress but her character is a bit of a misery guts and spends most of the movie scowling, sulking or frowning. Burn Gorman is perfectly creepy. The movie itself is low key and by the numbers as if it was written and directed according to a check list but it's effective for all that. There's quite a lot of Romanian language so if you watch without subtitles you miss some dialogue but I'm not sure if you miss anything important.

Wow, just wow. I had no expectations about Watcher, but it turned out to be really good.

Like seriously, everything worked so well up until the ending, which felt somewhat disappointing and didn't make much sense. It wasn't the worst thing they could've done though, so thanks for that.

Actual care was put into the film and it shows. All the elements they have are nothing new, really, but these blend quite well. The unfamiliar environment, the language barrier, the fear, and the feeling of being misunderstood and left alone by the careless close ones. Great acting, great atmosphere, great music. Just overall a solid thriller that tried to step away from cliches as much as possible.

I can agree that the pacing was relatively slow, but it only helped absorb the atmosphere of what was happening.

A split 7.5/10 could've been an 8.5/10 if not for the ending that felt a little too much, although I get the message.

I am looking forward to new movies from the director.