Here’s another one that I knew nothing about before searching for my 28th film of 31 for this month. The description sounded promising and it stars established – and well-regarded – genre actor, Maika Monroe. That was enough to sell me on it, but then I learned that Chloe Okuna directed and co-wrote the film. You may remember her from such hits as “Storm Drain” in V/H/S/94. Nice! That was a favorite of mine in that particular entry in the V/H/S franchise. And from the ‘looks’ of it (Reddit, Twitter, etc.), it was a favorite for a lot of other horror fans as well. Obviously, I watched it. Now’s the time for me to paint my astrological star chart review it for you, dear reader. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Julia and her husband, Francis, move to Bucharest, Romania for his job. His family is from Romania, but Julia is a fish out of water in the foreign (to her) city. She is a struggling actor with no roles lined up who doesn’t speak the local language. She spends her days drifting about and waiting for Francis to come home from his marketing job – usually very late at night. Fear is added to her loneliness when she learns that a serial killer is operating in their neighborhood. She becomes paranoid when she sees a man seemingly watching her from a window across the street from their apartment. When she sees him while she’s out and about she begins to suspect he is stalking her. And perhaps he’s the killer that has so far eluded the police. She tries to share her suspicions but she is met with language barriers, disbelief from her husband and the police, and derision from her husband’s colleagues. Is there really something for her to worry about or has her isolation caused her to spiral?
Malia Monroe seems to be leveraging her flat affect to great effect. She was great in It Follows and Longlegs. And she is great in this film as well. Unfortunately, the tension in the film is too contrived. The horror of being isolated in a foreign land with no allies and no understanding of the language is legitimately terrifying. But, as a viewer, Julia’s actions just don’t really make sense for someone fearing for their life. Admittedly, she is just a little freaked out at first and has that “I must be overreacting” feeling. That’s understandable. And it’s understandable that her husband would poo-poo her concern. But coupling that with the local woman killer on the loose, it doesn’t make any sense. Yes, her husband works late but she has ample opportunity to talk to him when he gets home. Hell, she could go meet him for lunch. She doesn’t have anything else to do. His belittling of her fear would be solved with a conversation. Instead we get the trite device of the main character not being believed and then cutting to the next day. Or worse, taking off to wander the dark streets of a strange city alone. If your plot requires unnatural behaviors or outright nonsense, it doesn’t matter how thrilling the central conflict is because viewers will spend the whole time wondering why characters are so stupid. It’s frustrating because there is obviously a decent thriller hidden in this very ‘meh’ story.
The Final Cut: Watcher is a passable thriller with unfortunate character actions that detract from the experience significantly. Monroe is good though.
No Real Danger 