"Watcher" - Review

Julia (Maika Monroe) moves to Bucharest with her partner Francis (Karl Glusman), as he has gotten a promotion. Whilst Francis goes to work, for many an hour, Francis is left alone with her thoughts. In a foreign country with no friends, no connections, not speaking the language and in a rougher part of town; Francis starts to believe that something is very wrong, and that one of her neighbours is watching her. And reading about a serial killer on the loose certainly doesn't put her mind at ease...

This is a well-crafted, slow burn, minor key pot boiler. More specifically it is a better rehash of Giallo flicks than Edgar Wright's "Last Night in Soho", with an emphasis on paranoia and the genuine dread that comes from being in an unknown land, all alone and feeling like you are constantly in danger.
The cinematography is gorgeous, director Chloe Okuno has an eye for windows and the simple touches of paranoia, and there is something intrinsically sinister about a silhouette in the window. It's not attempting to reinvent the genre, so it simply plays it bloody excellently.
Monroe is, as always, excellent and welcome in any film.
The camera lingers, lets the scene breathe, and the dread is always there, always creeping in, always present. We really get in the shoes and mindset of Julia, and feel that same feeling.
Look, if you're going to just remake "It Follows", I'm not going to complain! Hell, this one puts a spin on it.
Burn Gorman shows up in the opening credits, so you know who the villain is. And as good as the last act is, I'd have much preferred him to just be a weirdo!