Rent Watcher (2022)

Standard stalker fare but well realised - Watcher review by Alphaville

This stately but beautifully realised film gains from its fish-out-of-water setting as our bored American housewife heroine is pursued by a stalker through the streets of Bucharest. Its unsettling and watchable throughout, even though you wonder what she’s doing with that uncaring husband of hers. So why only three stars? Because there’s nothing new here, it’s instantly forgettable and if you’re looking for scares there are none.

Chiller thriller - Watcher review by HM

A young woman feels she is being watched by a man over the road. A serial killer is on the loose but he is arrested, so who is this guy? Maybe the real killer? She encounters this odd lonley character but instead of reassurig her, she seems to be loosing her mind, maybe there is a mental health issue. Is it just her imagination or a real threat? Her boyfriend is around for protection, so what could go wrong? Well it does get creepy without being unrealistic. Needless to say things develop with a few twists. An enjoyable thriller which held my attention.

Interesting, well filmed thriller ... - Watcher review by NP

A lonely housewife, bored and isolated in a foreign place, imagines she is being stalked; meanwhile, there are news reports of a killer on the streets. Is she imagining her predicament, or is it real?

Not the most original premise for a plot. It’s been done many times before, but Chloe Okuno directs her story so artily and invests the Bucharest location with such an atmosphere, and the acting is so good, that it’s difficult not to become immersed in this. Every player makes the most of their roles without ever overdoing things. There’s a certain restraint all around, in fact, that the moments of revelation – and there are a few – are that much more powerful. All accompanied by a backdrop of seemingly endless city rain

Kudos to Maika Monroe as Julia, whom no one believes, Karl Glusman as husband Francis, who begins sympathetically before proving to be absolutely useless. Madalina Anea deserves mention as Irina, a welcome shoulder for Julia (at least for a while) to lean on and Burn Gorman as Daniel, whose sly glances and furtive gait are open to interpretation throughout.

‘Watcher’ tells its story well and then leaves the viewer to join the pieces together. Possibly there’s an overuse of un-subtitled Romanian chit-chat to convey Julia’s feelings of exclusion away from home, and it’s true to say that some of the cast could do with speaking up more. But I found this very enjoyable – and yes, it does all make sense. My score is 7 out of 10.