A lonely housewife, bored and isolated in a foreign place, imagines she is being stalked; meanwhile, there are news reports of a killer on the streets. Is she imagining her predicament, or is it real?
Not the most original premise for a plot. It's been done many times before, but Chloe Okuno directs her story so artily and invests the Bucharest location with such an atmosphere, and the acting is so good, that it's difficult not to become immersed in this. Every player makes the most of their roles without ever overdoing things. There's a certain restraint all around, in fact, that the moments of revelation - and there are a few - are that much more powerful. All accompanied by a backdrop of seemingly endless city rain
Kudos to Maika Monroe as Julia, whom no one believes, Karl Glusman as husband Francis, who begins sympathetically before proving to be absolutely useless. Madalina Anea deserves mention as Irina, a welcome shoulder for Julia (at least for a while) to lean on and Burn Gorman as Daniel, whose sly glances and furtive gait are open to interpretation throughout.
'Watcher' tells its story well and then leaves the viewer to join the pieces together. Possibly there's an overuse of un-subtitled Romanian chit-chat to convey Julia's feelings of exclusion away from home, and it's true to say that some of the cast could do with speaking up more. But I found this very enjoyable - and yes, it does all make sense. My score is 7 out of 10.
Not the most original premise for a plot. It's been done many times before, but Chloe Okuno directs her story so artily and invests the Bucharest location with such an atmosphere, and the acting is so good, that it's difficult not to become immersed in this. Every player makes the most of their roles without ever overdoing things. There's a certain restraint all around, in fact, that the moments of revelation - and there are a few - are that much more powerful. All accompanied by a backdrop of seemingly endless city rain
Kudos to Maika Monroe as Julia, whom no one believes, Karl Glusman as husband Francis, who begins sympathetically before proving to be absolutely useless. Madalina Anea deserves mention as Irina, a welcome shoulder for Julia (at least for a while) to lean on and Burn Gorman as Daniel, whose sly glances and furtive gait are open to interpretation throughout.
'Watcher' tells its story well and then leaves the viewer to join the pieces together. Possibly there's an overuse of un-subtitled Romanian chit-chat to convey Julia's feelings of exclusion away from home, and it's true to say that some of the cast could do with speaking up more. But I found this very enjoyable - and yes, it does all make sense. My score is 7 out of 10.