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Observance

  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
4.5/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Observance (2015)
Trailer for Observance
Play trailer1:34
1 Video
7 Photos
DramaHorrorMysteryThriller

In the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, Parker reluctantly returns to work as a private investigator. Embarking on an unu... Read allIn the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, Parker reluctantly returns to work as a private investigator. Embarking on an unusual assignment to observe a woman from an abandoned apartment, Parker witnesses bizarre h... Read allIn the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, Parker reluctantly returns to work as a private investigator. Embarking on an unusual assignment to observe a woman from an abandoned apartment, Parker witnesses bizarre happenings surrounding her, unaware that the derelict building that he surveys her from has... Read all

  • Director
    • Joseph Sims-Dennett
  • Writers
    • Joseph Sims-Dennett
    • Josh Zammit
  • Stars
    • Stephanie King
    • Lindsay Farris
    • Brendan Cowell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.5/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joseph Sims-Dennett
    • Writers
      • Joseph Sims-Dennett
      • Josh Zammit
    • Stars
      • Stephanie King
      • Lindsay Farris
      • Brendan Cowell
    • 34User reviews
    • 44Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Observance
    Trailer 1:34
    Observance

    Photos6

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    Top cast14

    Edit
    Stephanie King
    Stephanie King
    • Tenneal…
    Lindsay Farris
    Lindsay Farris
    • Parker Woodhouse
    Brendan Cowell
    Brendan Cowell
    • Employer
    Christian Willis
    Christian Willis
    • Robert
    Ash Ricardo
    Ash Ricardo
    • Receptionist
    Benedict Hardie
    Benedict Hardie
    • Charlie
    Tom O'Sullivan
    Tom O'Sullivan
    • Bret Buchanan
    Gabriel Dunn
    • William Woodhouse
    Abi Rose
    • Caroline
    John Jarratt
    John Jarratt
    • Snitch
    Joseph Sims-Dennett
    • Walter S. Moore
    Louisa Mignone
    Louisa Mignone
    • Rachel Woodhouse
    Roger Ward
    Roger Ward
    • Conspirator
    Baxter
    • Rat
    • Director
      • Joseph Sims-Dennett
    • Writers
      • Joseph Sims-Dennett
      • Josh Zammit
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews34

    4.51.1K
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    Featured reviews

    7kosmasp

    (Ob)serving the story

    Movies that are stake outs and that may feel weird to say the least, do have issues with character credibility at some point. And it's not different with this one, where you think, shouldn't our main character do something else instead? Shouldn't he see the signs and react to them rationally? But we wouldn't have a movie if he did. Also the actions are somewhat explained by his financial situation.

    So while you can argue these flaws and bumps in the story, you can also just a "enjoy" the suspense this builds up. And it has some very shocking moments indeed. It's a one location sort of deal, but it makes the most of it. And the suspense might be killing some people. And that's why I was surprised to see the lower rating here on IMDb. Didn't expect that to be truthful
    3kaonnikotinn

    Missing explanation...

    3/10.

    It's not boring because the plot is interesting, but the grade is low due to poor realization. From the beginning we are not nicely introduced to the plot and the story, as well as the characters, are not elaborate enough. At the end of the film, I expected at least some explanation, but nothing. The same mystery remained as at the beginning because I didn't understand anything.
    5lathe-of-heaven

    Excellent stylish start with strong Lynchian undertones, ruined by an abrupt change in tone...

    I was REALLY into this film. I could totally feel the David Lynch vibe with the great atmospheric B&W shots, the excellent, moody soundscape, and the compelling and, to me anyway, very involving mystery of what the hell was going on.

    BUT... although the movie makers had carefully paced the movie to create an increasing sense of tension and unease, very artfully immersing the audience in an effective ambient mood, and then... abruptly about 40 minutes into the story, for some inexplicable reason the director seems to throw all that hard-earned subtlety to the wind and we have like a 5-10 minute disgustingly gross scene of this guy in the bathroom heaving all this horrible stuff up, etc., etc...

    Now, if I had wanted a GROSS fest, I would have chosen a film that highlighted that. I cannot understand WHY this abrupt and to me extremely disappointing change in tone was suddenly thrust upon us. I tried to weather the scene figuring it might be over in a minute or so. But, astonishingly the director just keeps us focused on this completely jarring grossness that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the lovely textured mood that had been created up to that point. To me, the whole bloody thrust (and appeal) of the film was the great sense of mystery and the SUBTLETY of the mood, clearly leading to some powerful reveal later on. What I was NOT frigg'n expecting was for that to be yanked out from under us and then to be forced to view this meaningless, VERY extended, mood-breaking grossness. I tried to put up with it as long as I could, but after about 5 friggin, constant minutes of our this mindless audience abuse, I had to shut it off.

    A real shame too... The movie up to that point I felt was very well done and very cleverly crafted. Whatever the hell got into the director to completely ruin it by doing this is almost a greater mystery than he had taken all that time and effort to create in the first place...
    4aronharde

    Boring and valueless

    Most of the movies runtime is spent by observing....duuuh. However not the entertaining kind but rather the really boring one. Our protagonist is observing a young woman in a building across the street as he witnesses bizarre sightings that slowly seem to threaten him more and more.

    "Slowly" is the right word because this movie was really slow paced and there's not much happening for most of the time. The only interesting scenes are dreams or visions by our protagonist and there are a few suspenseful scenes involving the woman in the building across the street. However most of its runtime is pretty boring and not worth watching. [3,8/10]
    Red_Identity

    Well-acted and very creepy

    I definitely didn't have many expectations for this and I had no idea what type of film it would be. I love its ambiguity. Many people will hate it for that same reason but I found that it was able to sufficiently explore its story and characterization (it does a great job of developing its main character) while still not revealing itself completely and by sustaining great atmosphere and mood (and well-done jump scares too) throughout its entirety. I think it's a simple, but scary film, one that will only appeal to a specific kind of horror fan but the type of horror we need more of. I would definitely recommend it, although be cautious because it's not for everyone.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Observance?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 7, 2016 (Kuwait)
    • Country of origin
      • Australia
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Соблюдение
    • Production company
      • Sterling Cinema
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 27m(87 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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