|
}}
| distributor = {{Plainlist|
* [[IFC Midnight]]<br> [[Shudder (streaming service)|Shudder]] (United States)
* [[Universal Pictures]]<br> [[Focus Features]] (international)
}}
| released = {{film date|2022|101|2221|[[2022 Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]]|2022|606|303|United States}}
| runtime = 96 minutes<ref name="BOM"/>
| country = {{Plainlist|
* United Arab Emirates
* United States
* Romania<ref>{{cite web |url=https://letterboxdwww.comsundance.org/filmwp-content/watcheruploads/details2022/01/SFF22_PPG_Body_Sundance.pdf |title=WatcherPrintable Program Guide - Sundance Institute |website=[[Letterboxdsundance.org]] |access-date=SeptemberJanuary 6, 2022|access-date=June 23, 2023 |page=2}}</ref>
}}
| language = {{Plainlist|English
| budget = $5 million<ref name="budget">{{cite web|url=https://riylmag.com/the-watcher-marketing-and-the-mid-budget-thriller/|title=The Watcher, Marketing, and the Mid Budget Thriller|website=RIYL Mag|date=September 2, 2022|access-date=September 23, 2022}}</ref> ▼* English
| gross = $3.2 million<ref name="BOM">{{cite Box Office Mojo |id=12004038 |title=Watcher (2022) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |access-date=June 23, 2023}}
* Romanian
</ref>
}}
▲| budget = $5 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://riylmag.com/the-watcher-marketing-and-the-mid-budget-thriller/|title=The Watcher, Marketing, and the Mid Budget Thriller|website=RIYL Mag|date=September 2, 2022|access-date=September 23, 2022}}</ref>
| gross = $3 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Watcher-(2022)#tab=summary|title=Watcher (2022)|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3576791809/weekend/|title=Watcher (2022)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref>
}}
'''''Watcher''''' is a 2022 [[Psychological thriller|psychological thriller film]] film written and directed by [[Chloe Okuno]] in her feature[[list filmof directorial anddebuts|feature screenwritingdirectorial debut]], based on an original screenplay by Zack Ford. The film stars [[Maika Monroe]], [[Karl Glusman]], and [[Burn Gorman]].
''Watcher'' had its world premiere at the [[2022 Sundance Film Festival|Sundance Film Festival]] on January 2221, 2022, andwhere it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 3, 2022, byto [[IFCpositive Midnight]]reviews andfrom [[Shudder (streaming service)|Shudder]]critics.
==Plot==
American couple Julia and Francis relocate to [[Bucharest]], moving into an apartment building with a large picture window. JuliaWhile noticesFrancis aworks manlong loominghours, inJulia grows unnerved by a windowman fromin the building across the street, who watches her on a daily basis. WhileHer Francisfears worksare longheightened hourswhen she learns of a [[serial killer]], Juliadubbed grows"the unnervedSpider" by thelocal manmedia, inwho is decapitating young women. In the windowcity one day, whoshe watchessenses a man following her onat a dailytheater basisand a supermarket. But when Francis and Julia visit the market to review security footage, it proves inconclusive.
Julia befriends her neighbor, Irina ., Irinawho shows Julia a pistol her boyfriend Cristian gave her for protection. Later that night, Julia waves at the man in the window, and he waves back. Convinced thatSuspecting it is's the same man who followed her, she calls the police. Francis accompanies an officer to the adjacent building opposite to speak with the man , whombut theylater learntells isJulia namedthat Danielshe is Weberoverreacting. ▼Julia's fear heightens when she learns of a serial killer, dubbed "the Spider" by local media, who is decapitating young women. While walking through the city one day, she senses a man is following her. She manages to flee from a nearby market but when Francis and Julia visit the market to review the security footage, it proves inconclusive.
Soon after, Julia spots the man on the street and follows him to a strip club, where he works as a janitor. Irina, a dancer at the club, spots her. Julia questions Irina about the man, but she knows nothing. At home, Julia has a vivid dream about being attacked and strangled, but awakes only to hear a scream from Irina's apartment and convinces the landlady to unlock it, but they find no sign of Irina.
▲Julia befriends her neighbor, Irina. Irina shows Julia a pistol her boyfriend Cristian gave her for protection. Later that night, Julia waves at the man in the window, and he waves back. Convinced that it is the same man who followed her, she calls the police. Francis accompanies an officer to the adjacent building to speak with the man, whom they learn is named Daniel Weber.
OneThe next day, JuliaCristian followsarrives Danielsearching for Irina. They try to aconfront stripthe clubjanitor at his apartment, wherebut heno worksone asanswers athe janitordoor. IrinaAfter Christian leaves, aJulia dancerworks atup the clubnerve to knock on the door herself, spotsbut herit is answered by an elderly man. JuliaAs questionsshe Irinagets abouton Daniel,the butelevator to leave, she knowssees nothingthe janitor. That night, Juliaa hearspolice aofficer commotionarrives inat Irina'sher apartment. Juliaaccompanied convincesby the landladyman, toidentified unlockas theDaniel apartmentWeber, butwho theyaccuses find no signJulia of Irinastalking him. FrancisThe believesofficer calls the incident a misunderstanding and Julia shakes Daniel's fearshand. areFrancis imagined,later andshows pointsJulia toa thenews factreport stating that "the Spider" has apparently been apprehended.
Julia accompanies Francis to a company party , and gleans that he has made jokes about her fears to his coworkers. She angrily leaves and boards the subway, where she notices Daniel in the near-empty car. When he attempts to explain hiswhy voyeurismhe ofwatches her—that he lives an isolated, unexciting life caring for his father—Julia notices what appears to be the outline of a severed head in his shopping bag. She returns home , where sheand begins packing . Shebut is interrupted by music playing in Irina's apartment. Inside, she finds Irina's headless corpse , before Daniel smothers her with a plastic bag. ▼The next day, Cristian arrives searching for Irina, who never returned home. They try to confront Daniel in his apartment but no one answers the door. Julia works up the nerve to knock by herself later, but it is answered by an elderly man. That night, a police officer arrives at their apartment accompanied by Daniel, who accuses Julia of stalking him. The officer chalks the incident up to a misunderstanding.
When Julia regains consciousness, Daniel recounts how he killed Irina and hid with her body when Julia and the landlady entered the apartment. Julia hears Francis enter their apartment next - door, but when she attempts to scream, Daniel slashes her throat. Francis calls Julia's cell phone, which he hears ringing inside Irina's apartment. He sees Daniel exiting and begins to walk toward Danielhim, but Julia , suddenlyhaving shootsfeigned Danieldying, multiplesuddenly timeskills Daniel with Irina's pistol , killing him. She steps out of Irina's apartment, covered in blood, and stares at Francis. ▼▲Julia accompanies Francis to a company party, and gleans that he has made jokes about her fears to his coworkers. She angrily leaves and boards the subway, where she notices Daniel in the near-empty car. When he attempts to explain his voyeurism of her—that he lives an isolated, unexciting life caring for his father—Julia notices what appears to be the outline of a severed head in his shopping bag. She returns home, where she begins packing. She is interrupted by music playing in Irina's apartment. Inside, she finds Irina's headless corpse, before Daniel smothers her with a plastic bag.
▲When Julia regains consciousness, Daniel recounts how he killed Irina and hid with her body when Julia and the landlady entered the apartment. Julia hears Francis enter their apartment next-door, but when she attempts to scream, Daniel slashes her throat. Francis calls Julia's cell phone, which he hears ringing inside Irina's apartment. He sees Daniel exiting and begins to walk toward Daniel, but Julia suddenly shoots Daniel multiple times with Irina's pistol, killing him. She steps out of Irina's apartment, covered in blood, and stares at Francis.
==Cast==
==Production==
In March 2021, it was announced that [[Maika Monroe]], [[Karl Glusman]] and [[Burn Gorman]] would star in a film titled ''Watcher'' for [[Image Nation Abu Dhabi]] and Spooky Pictures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/03/maika-monroe-karl-glusman-burn-gorman-watcher-1234715474/ |title=Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman & Burn Gorman Starring In Thriller 'Watcher' |first=Tom |last=Grater |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=March 16, 2021|access-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/maika-monroe-joins-chloe-okuno-watcher-1234931726/ |title=Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman Join Chloe Okuno Thriller 'Watcher' |first=Nick|last=Vivarelli|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=March 16, 2021|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>
|first=Tom|last=Grater|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=March 16, 2021|access-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/maika-monroe-joins-chloe-okuno-watcher-1234931726/ |title=Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman Join Chloe Okuno Thriller 'Watcher'
|first=Nick|last=Vivarelli|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=March 16, 2021|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>
[[Principal photography]] began on March 8, 2021, and concluded on April 16, 2021, in [[Bucharest]], Romania.<ref name="VarietyInsight">{{cite web |title=Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Watcher |url=https://www.varietyinsight.com/production_restart_full_view.php?track_id=177401 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418032236/https://www.varietyinsight.com/production_restart_full_view.php?track_id=177401 |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |access-date=April 18, 2021 |website=[[Variety Insight]]}}</ref> The film took approximately six weeks to make in total.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the Artist: Chloe Okuno on "Watcher"| date=December 22, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5UYn8NwvNg|access-date=2022-01-10|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
==Release==
It premiered atin the [[2022 Sundance Film Festival]] on January 2221, 2022, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.<ref name="premiere">{{cite web |title=Printable program guide - cloudfront.net |url=https://d2wsrejhnxatgp.cloudfront.net/assest/SFF22_Program_Guide.pdf |website=[[CloudFront.net]] |date=January 20, 2022 |access-date=June 23, 2023 |page=3}}</ref> LaterAfterwards, [[IFC Midnight]] and [[Shudder (streaming service)|Shudder]] acquired the North American distribution rights to the film.,<ref name=deadline>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/01/ifc-sundance-thriller-watcher-1234922706/ |title=IFC Midnight & Shudder Buy North American Rights To Sundance Thriller 'Watcher' |date=January 31, 2022 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}</ref> Shortly after,while [[AGC Studios|AGC International]] sold worldwide rights outside North America to [[Focus Features]].<ref name=deadline /> It was theatrically released in the United States on June 3, 2022.,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/watcher-trailer-maika-monroe-1234708188/|title='Watcher' Trailer: Maika Monroe Will Haunt You in This Creepy Gaslighting Thriller|websitepublisher=[[IndieWire]]|first=Ryan|last=Lattanzio|date=April 27, 2022|access-date=April 27, 2022}}</ref> and [[video on demand|on-demand]] on June 21, 2022 by [[IFC Films]].<ref name="NUM">{{cite The Numbers |id=Watcher-(2022) |title=Watcher (2022) - Financial Information |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref> The film was released on [[Blu-ray]] in North America on October 4, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|work=High-Def Digest|title=Watcher Blu-ray Disc Details|url=https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/108419/watcher.html|url-status=live|archive-date=October 22, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221022085511/https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/108419/watcher.html}}</ref>
The film was released by IFC Films on [[Blu-ray]] in North America on October 4, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|work=High-Def Digest|title=Watcher Blu-ray Disc Details|url=https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/108419/watcher.html|url-status=live|archive-date=October 22, 2022|archive-url=https://archive.ph/wip/C7oQ6}}</ref>
==Reception==
===Box office===
Upon its theatrical release in June 2022 Deadline reported that ''Watcher'' had recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label. The film opened on 764 U.S. screens and was one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.
In the United States and Canada, the film earned $826,775 from 764 theaters in its opening weekend.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W22/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 22|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref> It made $335,376 (a drop of 59%) in its second weekend;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W23/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 23|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> $87,155 (–74%) in its third;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W24/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 24|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> $21,843 (–74.9%) in its fourth;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W25/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 25|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> and $7,386 (–66.2%) in its fifth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W26/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 26|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> ▼
''“Watcher is one of the best feature debuts we have ever screened out of Sundance and with it, Chloe Okuno has proven without a doubt that she is a leading new voice in horror,”'' said IFC Film president Arianna Bocco. ''“We are thrilled to have been her partner on the release of Watcher and remain committed to finding the best new voices working in film today.”''
''Watcher'' grossed $2 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.2 million in other territories, for a total worldwide of $3.2 million,<ref name="BOM" /> against a production budget of $5 million.<ref name="budget" />
▲In the United States and Canada, the film earned $826,775 from 764 theaters in its opening weekend.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W22/ |title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 22 | websitepublisher= [[Box Office Mojo . [[IMDbPro]] |access-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref> It made $335,376 (a drop of 59%) in its second weekend;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W23/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 23 | websitepublisher= [[Box Office Mojo ]] |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> $87,155 (–74%) in its third;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W24/ |title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 24| websitepublisher= [[Box Office Mojo ]]|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> $21,843 (–74.9%) in its fourth;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W25/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 25| websitepublisher= [[Box Office Mojo ]]|access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> and $7,386 (–66.2%) in its fifth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2022W26/|title=Domestic 2022 Weekend 26| websitepublisher= [[Box Office Mojo ]]|access-date=July 6, 2022}}</ref>
===Critical response===
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|8788|76.9|142149|Although its story may lack surprises, ''Watcher'' benefits from director Chloe Okuno's chilling grip on the material – and Maika Monroe's terrific work in the leading role.|}}<ref name=yes"RT">{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/watcher_2022 |title=''Watcher'' |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]. [[Fandango Media]] |access-date=OctoberDecember 413, 20222023}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|72|27|ref=yes|access-date=November 11, 2022}}
Lena Wilson of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "one of this century's most arresting tales of female anxiety."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Lena |date=2022-06-02 |title='Watcher' Review: Terror, at a Glance |worknewspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/movies/watcher-review.html |access-date=2022-06-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==References==
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|12004038}}
* {{AllMovie title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watcher (film)}}
[[Category:2022 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2022 independent films]]
[[Category:2022 films]]
[[Category:2022 multilingual films]]
[[Category:2022 psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:Romanian thriller films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
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