WATCHER (2022) REVIEW

"Watcher, starring arguably this generations scream queen herself Maika Munro, is the sort of lean and mean throwback thriller that would make De Palma raise an eyebrow".

A new job see's a recently married American couple move into a beautiful old Bucharest apartment. The husband's job has him working long hours, and our protagonist Julia (Munro) begins to feel isolated and alone in the foreign city. When Julia notices a man staring at her from an adjacent apartment, she starts to get spooked. As she then crosses paths with the man a few times in public, she becomes convinced that he is stalking her. Oh and just for good measure, there's a serial killer targeting young women specifically in boujee Bucharest apartments.

The choice to set this film in a freezing cold European city like Bucharest really adds to the sense of isolation and paranoia. The Romanian dialogue is without subtitles which is a nice touch, (especially for those of us who don't speak Romanian) also adding to the feeling of isolation. The cinematography, framing, lighting, production design (the apartment looks amazing) along with the sound design are particularly well done, adding to the tension and the narratives foreboding sense of dread .

The stalker-type story quickly turns into a cat and mouse mystery that has you questioning if Julia is just being paranoid or if her fear is totally warranted. First time director Chloe Okuno does a wonderful job of placing us inside of Julia's shoes. We as an audience really get a feel for what it's like for a women to be dismissed and not be taken seriously. It's effective and never at all on-the-nose.

Watcher definitely reminded me of two other semi-recent thrillers that I enjoyed in Olivier Assayas' film Personal Shopper (2016) and Soderberg's underrated film Side Effects (2013). Definitely check Watcher out if your a fan of those aforementioned films or if you just really dig well executed thrillers in general.

Four out of five stars.