72
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 79Paste MagazineJacob OllerPaste MagazineJacob OllerWatcher flourishes as it complicates its premise beyond the unknowable and faceless desires of a shadowy silhouette.
- 75The Film StageJake Kring-SchreifelsThe Film StageJake Kring-Schreifels[Okuno’s] made a smart, controlled movie of pricks and gestures and tones that accumulate into a satisfying catharsis. And perhaps validated the urge to follow your gut.
- 70Film ThreatNorman GidneyFilm ThreatNorman GidneyThis classically styled thriller plays on universal themes of alienation to deliver a punchy diversion with macabre tints and a love of the genre.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerIn a genre movie climate marked by cheap thrills and easy scares — whatever gets us not to click on something else — it’s nice to see a film that sustains a strong ambiance of dread simply via someone looking out the window and shopping for groceries.
- 70VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangWatcher, if it has an agenda beyond being a fun, shivery, fish-out-of-water chiller, is not so much a manifesto to Believe All Women as it is a reminder to all women watching to at least believe ourselves.
- 70Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe film is led by Maika Monroe’s fragile performance, which grounds the story even when the proceedings start to become formulaic.
- 63Slant MagazineDerek SmithSlant MagazineDerek SmithWatcher gives a feminist twist to a throwback genre, but never does its topicality dilute its gripping suspense.
- 58IndieWireSusannah GruderIndieWireSusannah GruderInstead of leaning into the ambiguous tensions and uncanny experiences, Watcher fails to live up to its inspirations, ending up a heavy-handed, predictable trip through genre tropes with a rather lifeless cast at its core. Watcher spells out every plot point to a tee, when we wish it would slowly, playfully tug at the threads of our anxieties.
- 50The PlaylistElena LazicThe PlaylistElena LazicMonroe does a lot to sustain what tension there is during the more perfunctory moments, delivering a seemingly effortless performance as a dejected young woman who approaches both her confusing new circumstances and the mystery that occupies her thoughts with calm and pragmatic patience, as well as curiosity.
- 50SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaIt's all appropriately eerie and off-putting, but never quite as satisfying as it should be. Watching Watcher isn't a complete disappointment, but it sure would be nice if there was just a little more to look at.