Everyone loves an excellent voyeuristic thriller with notes of existential alienation, right? That’s the vibe of “Watcher,” a new slow-burn chiller from Chloe Okuno starring Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, and Burn Gorman that premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
The gist? As a serial killer stalks the new Romanian city she is totally foreign to and can’t speak the language, Julia (Monroe)— a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend—notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street in this terrifying thriller. Yes, it’s a thriller, but the setting, in Romania, is an excellent choice as it adds loneliness and estrangement to the character, adds a great mood, and invites paranoia, too (plus, Romania’s dark and dank architecture is a great aesthetic too)
Here’s the official synopsis:
In WATCHER, Julia (Maika Monroe) joins her husband (Karl Glusman) when he relocates to his family’s native Romania for a new job. Having recently abandoned her acting career, she finds herself frequently alone and unoccupied. One night, people-watching from her picture window, she spots a vague figure in an adjacent building, who seems to be looking back at her. Soon after, while alone at a local movie theater, Julia’s sense of being watched intensifies, and she becomes certain she’s being followed — could it be the same unknown neighbor? Meanwhile, a serial killer known as The Spider stalks the city.
“Watcher” had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was most recently screened at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. “Watcher” will open theatrically on June 3 from IFC Films. Shudder will take the first streaming window of the film. Watch the new trailer below.