therhyswelsh’s review published on Letterboxd:
Chloe Okuno has delivered a incredibly well made debut feature film in Watcher, a film that wears its inspiration from Hitchcock’s Rear Window on its sleeve throughout. The film is definitely nothing completely unique, it’s a genre that has been overpopulated a lot since Hitchcock’s take on it and this film follows the tropes nearly to the T, but how this film uses those tropes and crafts something still feeling fresh and new by using them is something really interesting. Mainly this film feels unique because it’s actually directed by a woman, it’s common for these films to miss the mark with who’s behind the camera, especially when the director can’t actually relate to the character. This film feels more honest and relevant, the director can actually relate to her lead and breathe something more real into the tired tropes that this sub genre thrives off.
Alongside this, the language barrier is another way this film really stands on its own feet in this sub genre. Julia (Maika Monroe) has only recently moved to Bucharest, and there’s a gap in her knowledge of the language, which becomes heightened when she is literally being stalked. A lot of stalking films have the common tropes of our lead not being believed, leading to a sense of isolation, but this film explores that further by literally making her unable to speak to other people who can help her. The direction feels claustrophobic at times, and the sound design heightens any loud noise or new threat to Julia, it’s all really great ways to put us in the shoes of our lead. Maika Monroe is also just utterly excellent here, I’ve only seen her before in the excellent It Follows but she’s a absolute star. You can really feel the isolation that the character feels through her performance, and just everything from behind the camera just heightens that feeling. The character goes through the absolute wringer here, leading to a pretty excellent finale which has probably one of the most enjoyable cut to credits I have seen in a while. Chloe Okuno has really outdid herself here, I am eagerly anticipating whatever she does next.
This film will be left off with a 7/10.
