Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: WATCHER [Sundance Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]

The aspect of the thriller of paranoia is well set within the pantheon of genre films: place a character is a small place and watch as people not in that same situation talk about the power of imagination. "Watcher" [US Dramatic Competition] wraps itself in this motif but doesn't stretch beyond its normal bounds. There are three lead actors here who have done exceptional work in the past playing characters moving outside the norm but what is interesting is that the most interesting character: Irina (by a more unknown actress) is the one we know the littlest about and is used as a plot ploy. However, she is the one that draws that sense of mystery and is the most fascinating character by far because of her poise and her approach. She is a Lynchian standout in a film that could have been filled in a way with them in various intensities.

Maika Monroe, who had undeniable strength in ""Villains" with Bill Skaarsgard is capable here but it is someone we have seen before but in a different urban situation. Karl Gusman, who just brought anther unusual performance to bear in the more purely art-house oriented "Please Baby Please" and has skirted and crossed the edge with a film like Gasper Noe's "Love, plays a very by-the-book husband who is always asking "how are you" to his wife. Maybe he wanted to play a more classic lead but it feels a big empty. It just seems that many actors could be interchanged since there is not much which truly makes them themselves. That is not to say the movie is bad at all. It has a "Rear Window" ode with a twist. However even Burn Gorman (who is the king of unusual0 plays his role with a kind of subdued traction that is more passive and not really too interesting....and that is the fault of the script per

The background of Bucharest in Romania is nice and it ventures out twice within a subway and a club that speaks to a bigger edge but never quite takes advantage. The conclusion does up the ante but it is almost a too-little/too-late scenario. Director Chloe Okuno uses a uses a jump cut once to bring to bear what is going on in Monroe's head (and it points to a greater psychosis that would have been interesting to explore) but it is simply not enough. While behavior for the most point is universal, "Watcher", although adequate, doesn't quite push itself beyond the bounds of what could be. C+

By Tim Wassberg