Watcher (2022) Dir: Chloe Okuno
Instagram post:
Chloe Okuno's 2022 mystery horror is one that drew me in with its intriguing logline, which illuded to a creepy and tense kind of film. Reviews were very much down the middle of the road, which isn't always the death bell it sounds like. I was still very much looking forward to seeing the mystery unfold.
I liked the outfits, hair and make-up, as well as some of the shots used. It wasn't the prettiest film to look at, but those details made it a lot more palatable. The main character's costumes were particularly good, in that sense.
On a more negative point, I noticed some really awkward sound mixing, mostly in regards to the breathing in some scenes - it was just a little off. It made for awkward viewing, because once I noticed it, I couldn't unhear it, and it was both distracting and irritating.
The story was interesting enough, but the pacing was so slow that it bordered on monotonous. The moments of explicit horror were reserved enough to make them both shocking and effective. However, the journey there seemed to take so long that it was hard work to stay invested. It's also worth noting that the story was pretty predictable too.
Maika Monroe's performance was fine enough, though she didn't excell. I found that she came across a lot better when she actually had to express emotions more explicitly. By contrast, she spent much of the rest of the film feeling rather wooden.
Karl Glusman didn't overly impress either, although he was on-screen far less. I liked some of his earlier scenes, but the further into the film it got, the less I watchable found him. He just wasn't all that captivating or likable, which is a shame.
Burn Gorman provided a generic and dull antagonist, but he did very much look the past, I'll admit. His facial expressions and deliberate body movements were commendable, in that sense. He almost would've been better if the audience saw less of him, which is not the insult it sounds like.
Honestly, the person I enjoyed the most was the one who appeared the least; Mãdãlina Anea. I felt that she expressed the most personality, and made herself the most endearing character. I wish we'd seen more of her character.
Overall, I liked plenty of the individual elements of this film, but I can't help but feel that it didn't suffered terminally from its pacing issues and inconsistent acting performances. There wasn't enough mystery to make the eventual climax feel like a surprise, and said-climax, while good, was not enough to make up for the rest of the film's shortcomings.
Comments