Watcher (2022)

[MikeScott]

Watcher is a slickly made, slow-burn paranoia thriller. The cinematography is gorgeous and the sound design impressive. My issue with it is that there's not much to it. There are no surprises. I adore Maika Monroe and found it captivating thanks to her. If you're a fan of hers the combination of her lead performance and the nice technical aspects should be enough to hold your attention. If you're not and aren't a fan of slower paced films this probably isn't for you. I would definitely recommend it overall though. It's a nice, Hitchcockian throwback thriller.

On a side note I saw this at the Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival and I had a really difficult time getting comfortable during it. Two people came in about fifteen minutes late and sat right in front of us. I kept trying to maneuver myself so I could see the screen while also not blocking the people behind me. My back was hurting throughout basically the whole movie. I plan on seeing this again at my theater when I can relax in a reclining seat. While I still enjoyed the movie that absolutely hindered my enjoyment of it.

For now I'd go with a B/B+ rating.

I don't understand why Maika Monroe isn't getting bigger roles. I do love that she's been in so many genre films though. She's probably my favorite modern scream queen. Hopefully she won't stop doing horror/thriller movies anytime soon.