Chloe Okuno’s psychological thriller Watcher, now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, stars Maika Monroe as Julia, a young American woman who has moved to Romania for her husband Francis (Karl Glusman)’s new job. Learning of a serial killer dubbed “The Spider” decapitating women in her area, Julia becomes paranoid that she could be his next victim. Her paranoia increases exponentially when she repeatedly notices a strange man, the nameless Watcher (Burn Gorman), looking at her from the apartment across the street. Okuno’s feature directorial debut uses a fairly simplistic, classic thriller premise to craft a modern, nuanced depiction of a woman navigating a misogynistic world.

The foreign setting heightens the sense of eerie isolation Julia is feeling. Francis works late most nights wining and dining clients, leaving Julia to spend her days alone, listening to Romanian language lessons as she wanders around the city. Okuno doesn’t include subtitles when people speak Romanian around Julia, an intelligent choice that puts the viewer in the same state of confusion as her. When Francis invites his colleagues over for dinner, they openly converse in Romanian, making Julia feel patronized like a child at the adults’ table. After repeatedly asking what they’re talking about, they tell her they’re discussing the news of The Spider’s latest attack. Francis and his colleagues speak about the disturbing, gory details with desensitized intrigue. Visibly uncomfortable with their nonchalance, Julia excuses herself and steps away. She’s isolated not only by the language barrier but by the lack of concern those around her have for a matter that is consuming her thoughts. For Francis and his work friends, it is a speculative topic of small talk, but for Julia, this is a matter of potential life or death, making their indifference infuriating.

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Image via IFC Films

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The Director of Photography, Benjamin Kirk Nielsen, often films Monroe in the apartment through the window, heightening the unsettling feeling that someone is watching her. When walking to the movies, she feels the presence of a man walking behind her. She’s visibly terrified, wondering if it’s the same man who’s been watching her through the window. It turns out to be an innocent stranger just trying to move past her, but the moment depicts the intensity of her paranoia. With a potential stalker and a serial killer on the loose, she is forced to be constantly on guard and overly cautious. After this incident, she notices a man has followed her from the movies to the grocery store, and this time, it appears to be the Watcher. Nielsen doesn’t yet bring the Watcher’s face into focus, granting only blink-and-you-miss-it glimpses. It creates a haunting, ominous aura around this faceless stranger and plants a subtle seed of doubt in our minds.

This doubt is unfortunately heightened by Julia’s husband, who continually dismisses Julia’s worries. When she tells Francis about the incident, he asks if perhaps the man is just looking back at a woman who’s watching him. This question epitomizes how men can effortlessly cast doubt on women’s claims and shift the blame to them instead of the perpetrator. Aside from her next-door neighbor Irina (Madalina Anea), everyone around Julia minimizes her concerns, even treating them as an inconvenience. A policeman begrudgingly goes to the apartment across the street to see if the man watching Julia is the same man that followed her to the grocery store. Francis goes with him and reluctantly confirms that it’s the same man. He’s still convinced that Julia is blowing everything out of proportion, and Julia crumbles, desperately pleading with him to believe her. It’s a painful depiction of the harrowing cycle that plays out so often in real life. Even with the evidence in front of him, Francis makes Julia feel like she’s misinterpreting things.

Julia’s frustration reaches its climax when she attends a fancy work gathering with Francis. As they clink champagne glasses with his colleagues, the conversation shifts from English to Romanian. Julia is again isolated from their discussion, but this time, she listens closely and intently to their words. Having been studying Romanian throughout the film, her eyes shift as she attempts to piece together what her husband is saying. Then it clicks: Francis has just joked that The Spider can keep Julia company while she’s at home all day. The camera closes in on Monroe’s powerful gaze, rage and disbelief overwhelming her. She storms out of the party, but not before Francis confronts her, describing her belief she has a stalker as a “fantasy” and threatening to leave her. Speechless and utterly defeated, Julia cries, frozen in place as Francis returns to the party. In a striking wide shot, she stands alone in the grandiose hotel lobby, with the rest of the party, including her husband, continuing to mingle on the floor above her. It’s a devastating visualization of her isolation amidst the enraging indifference of those around her.

Okuno creates atmospheres of utter terror in public spaces, illustrating the unfortunate fear and paranoia that often comes with navigating them as a woman. When Julia leaves Francis’s work party, an eerie sense of dread begins to build as she waits at the dark train station alone. Upon boarding the train, she looks up to see the Watcher sitting several seats down. As she listens to the sound of slow, deliberate footsteps making their way toward her, the terror and panic on her face are visceral. The Watcher has taken a seat across from her and begins to make pleasant small talk. She contemplates his intentions, his momentary kindness forcing her to doubt what she knows is true. His tone begins to shift from warm to threatening as the frame slowly zooms in on his grocery bag. Suddenly, Julia notices what’s inside it: her neighbor Irina’s severed head. It’s a both terrifying and satisfying confirmation that Julia’s paranoia was valid. She’s been right all along despite being continually gaslit to think otherwise.

Julia runs home to find Irina’s headless body in her apartment. The Watcher then attacks her and thinks he’s killed her, only for her to use Irina’s stashed gun to shoot him to death. Covered in blood, she glares at the Watcher crumpled on the floor. She’s been the object of his deadly gaze for the entire film, but now, she gets the powerful and cathartic last glance. In the film’s final shot, she shifts her eyes to Francis, who is watching from the hallway in terror, and no dialogue is needed. Monroe’s cutting gaze slices right through him, her furious eyes screaming “I told you so.” It’s an explosive finale that masterfully unleashes the bottled-up pain and rage that has been growing within her. After being constantly doubted and gaslit for her rightful paranoia, Julia gets to exact the sweet, blood-soaked revenge she deserves.