As we move further away from the 1970s and early ‘80s, the art of Italian Giallo films has quietly dwindled to being almost nonexistent in modern film, as legendary directors of the sub-genre have either passed on to another realm (Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci) or gotten older and lost their touch (Dario Argento). A few brave directors have tried to replicate the style over the last few years. Most of them miss the mark by a lot, but a few have given a solid showing, like Maximiliano Contenti’s The Last Matinee, and some have used the inspiration to create their own outside-of-the-box films, like James Wan’s Malignant. However, until now, I’m not sure any have encompassed the true spirit of film style, which traditionally, brought a Hitchcockian level of intensity to their stories, not only having the audience guessing who the killer is to the very end, but also making us legitimately fear for the protagonist. Both of those extremely necessary boxes have been checked with Chloe Okuno’s Watcher.
Watcher follows Julia and her husband Francis, as they move to a new apartment in downtown Bucharest, Romania. As the couple gets their bearings in a new country where Julia doesn’t speak the predominant local language, she relies on Francis to do most of the communicating. While Francis works every day, and often late at night, Julia notices a stranger watching her through the apartment windows at all hours of the evening. Julia’s tensions start to run high, as reports of a local serial killer start to flood through the media, and she starts to believe she may be the next victim.
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Giallo-style films are extremely character dependent, as most of them follow the same general type of story. Maika Monroe, who was fantastic in both It Follows and Adam Wingard’s The Guest, was born for her role as Julia in Watcher. There are so many layers of anxieties to Julia’s character, that the audience hardly needs a serial killer to be worried for her. Monroe does a perfect job of slowly losing her mind from both the physical and mental isolation, and the constant gaslighting she’s put through. It was very reminiscent (in a good way) of Elizabeth Moss’ performance in Leigh Whannell’s version of The Invisible Man. Karl Glusman and Burn Gorman were both excellent in their supporting roles, but this was Monroe’s movie, through-and-through.
In a lot of ways, Watcher reminded me of It Follows and The Invisible Man, mostly because it focused more on the victim’s habits and terror than the actions of a serial killer or predator. We know one is out there, but we don’t really know or see them, so we’re just as anxious as Julia, staring into the faces of every man that walks by, and listening intently for the speeding up of footsteps behind us. Monroe uses her emotions to sell to the audience that the terror is coming to a climax, and the story, combined with some brilliant camera work and specific shots, hits us with some incredibly intense moments, especially in the final act. Zack Ford and Chole Okuno’s writing is spot-on here, and to throw us all a much-needed Giallo bone, they hit us with a couple of red herrings. Nathan Helpburn, who composed the score for another intensely bothersome movie, Swallow, created a haunting atmosphere to bring the audience in a little closer.
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One of the best things about Watcher is the simplicity of the story. Oftentimes, Giallos become a little unhinged, and start veering into the world of the supernatural. This film keeps things close, both playing on the fears that come with watching isolation horror, but also some of the home invasion movie anxieties. Doing less sometimes creates more, especially in a Hitchcock-style thriller. It’s no surprise to me that Guillermo del Toro, one of the best modern horror directors today, publicly praised Okuno’s first feature film.
If I had to ding the film for anything, I think it would be for how the film left off. We get an idea of how the story plays out, but because of the level of intensity and fear I had for Julia’s life, I wanted more direct answers of which way her path went. I didn’t want to be left guessing, but in horror movies, I hardly get that luxury. I also found the levels of gaslighting that Julia received so absurd with how obviously tortured and scared she was. In a way, I felt like the absurdity of the gaslighting took the focus off Julia and her story and put it more on my anger for those that weren’t believing her, but I also think that was part of the point. We were supposed to be right there, scared and frustrated at every turn, just like she was.
I think Watcher is extremely deserving of the praise it’s receiving, and one of the best thrillers of this style to come out in decades. I highly recommend the watch. Watcher is now streaming on Shudder, and available for rent on Amazon.
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