Watcher (2022)

 

Chloe Okuno's creepy Watcher (2022) puts Bucharest's grimy streets and dingy hallways to excellent use as the backdrop for its unsettling tale of a young American wife (Maika Monroe), who relocates to the Romanian capital after her Romanian-American husband (Karl Glusman) is transferred there by his company. She soon discovers a neighbor (Burn Gorman) has taken a special interest in her from his window across the courtyard.

Left alone for hours at a time while husband Francis is at work, Julia quickly finds herself adrift in a strange place, feeling eyes on her, dangers lurking everywhere. The untidiness of the city and its residents and a recent series of murders prime Julia for her slow unraveling. She strikes up a friendship with the party girl next door, Irina (Madalina Anea), but the comfort Julia gets from her ebullient friend is shortlived.

In this her first feature, Okuno doesn't try anything fancy. She pulls freely from the masters -- Hitchcock, DePalma -- and has a pretty solid story but the key to the picture's success is the gem of a performance from Ms. Monroe -- no histrionics, just intensity and a breathless (for the audience) final reel.