From Sundance: Stalker Thriller ‘Watcher’ Simmers with Tension

Chloe Okuno’s thriller “Watcher” begins with American expatriate Julia (Maika Monroe) staring out a car window, half in wonderment, half in wistfulness as she rides through the unknown streets of Romania. She will soon realize, however, that to look out a window also means inviting others to look at her. Having just moved to Bucharest with her husband Francis (Karl Glusman), who often works long hours, Julia has nothing but time on her hands. She soon notices a silhouetted figure in the window across the street from their apartment, one who always seems to be staring directly at her: This unsettling revelation, compounded by talk of a serial murderer on the loose known for targeting women, makes Julia develop the creeping feeling that she’s in danger. With its somewhat formulaic and predictable story arc, “Watcher” doesn’t establish itself as a particularly innovative addition to the thriller genre. Still, Okuno uses meticulous camerawork to maintain a consistent undercurrent of suspense, eliciting fear in audiences even in the film’s most mundane moments.

With its disorienting shot framing, “Watcher” quickly sets an ominous tone and leaves viewers wondering who and what to trust. Okuno frequently positions her camera outside a window and slowly zooms out on her characters, eerily suggesting that our protagonists aren’t alone even in their most intimate moments. While the stalker plot of “Watcher” is relatively simple, it’s engrossing in the way that it portrays normal everyday activities as potentially sinister. When Julia waves to the silhouette across the street in an attempt to figure out if she’s actually being watched, there’s a painfully tense delay before the shadowy figure slowly raises their hand in greeting. Julia is not in immediate danger during this simple moment, yet the way Okuno turns an objectively friendly interaction into a hair-raising one is commendable.

There are few prominently featured characters in “Watcher” beyond Julia and Francis. Even when Julia leaves her apartment, wandering the city alone as a sort of flaneur, the streets of Bucharest are not bustling with crowds. When she goes to the movies, she is one of just a few audience members; when she goes to a cafe, she is one of the only customers. In portraying the city as sparsely populated, the film’s setting becomes influential in establishing its unsettling tone. Even when Julia’s in public, she doesn’t feel safe, and the audience is keenly aware of her vulnerability; wide shots of these largely unoccupied spaces are frequently used to emphasize her isolation.

Julia’s anxieties about being watched are exacerbated by a sinister encounter during a showing of the Audrey Hepburn classic “Charade.” The solo trip to the movies becomes a tense experience when someone sits directly behind her in a mostly empty theater, their breathing even and loud. When Julia leaves, she’s convinced this mysterious man has followed her to the supermarket. Thus begins a rather frustrating subplot of the film in which many people, especially her husband, don’t take Julia’s concerns about being stalked seriously. Despite the fact that women are being targeted by a murderer in their city, Francis doesn’t seem sufficiently worried that his wife is in danger. Glusman is well cast as the dismissive[,] everything-is-fine character that horror films often rely on to further isolate their protagonist; he captures the arrogant nonchalance of a man negating a woman’s fears with ease.

Julia isn’t a particularly detailed protagonist — there’s a throwaline line or two revealing that she recently gave up on her ambition of being an actress — but Maika Monroe allows her to feel like a realistic and likable character nonetheless. Further context on her life and her relationship with Francis would have deepened the story and complicated these often trope-consistent characters. “Watcher” seems more focused on setting its audience on edge than developing its characters — which, to its credit, it does well. In spite of her underwritten character, Monroe poignantly captures Julia’s increasing desperation and loneliness as she is made to feel like she’s crazy, helping to anchor and uplift a well-made but largely unremarkable thriller. “Watcher” won’t keep you up at night or stir conversation, but it does keep you anxiously entertained during its runtime.

—Arts Chair Jaden S. Thompson can be reached at jaden.thompson@thecrimson.com.