Sundance 2022: Watcher Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

For as long as there have been films, women have been paranoid in them. The paranoia subgenre has been a successful staple of thrillers because anyone can relate to being paranoid about one thing or another in their lives. That being said, there’s only so much they can do at this point. In order to get the best experience, there has to be that connection with a film’s paranoid individual or individuals so audiences can feel what they feel. When it comes to Watcher, the film doesn’t bring anything new to the table whatsoever but definitely makes the most out of its circumstances to create that connection thanks to some strong atmospheric work and a sensational lead performance from Maika Monroe. The problem with that was the film’s inability to do anything with it, resulting in an unrealized slow burn with an abrupt ending that will surely not sit well with some audiences.

With a title like Watcher, the story is pretty self-explanatory, following a young woman named Julia (Monroe) who moved to Romania with her fiancé Francis (Glusman). Getting used to a new country, language, and culture essentially by herself was one thing but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched by a mysterious man in the building across from them. Isolated and alone in a new country with a fiancé who was often conveniently away because of work, it’s easy to feel how alone Julia must have felt in a cold and overwhelming new environment with very few people who spoke English (the lack of subtitles was a nice touch). Nevertheless, she persisted, fighting to be believed as her suspicions were merely rationalized away. Therefore she went on her own investigation with the threat of the watcher and a serial killer murdering women on the horizon.

Sprinkling in strong moments of tension throughout, Watcher seemingly did little to nothing whatsoever with them which was disappointing and made the film feel dull and slow at times as it stumbled by the end. In spite of that, what kept the film afloat was the great performance from Monroe as Julia. Suffice it to say that the film would not have worked nearly as well if not for her likability and relatability to create that connection with her where we care as audiences about what she goes through. Meanwhile, Gorman was also strong as the titular watcher.

At the end of the day, Watcher may not be the best that the subgenre has to offer but does just enough to get by.

*still courtesy of Sundance

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.