Watcher

Watcher had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2022, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 3, 2022, to positive reviews from critics.

Julia befriends her neighbor, Irina, who shows Julia a pistol her boyfriend Cristian gave her for protection. Later that night, Julia waves at the man in the window, and he waves back. Suspecting it’s the same man who followed her, she calls the police. Francis accompanies an officer to the building opposite to speak with the man but later tells Julia that she is overreacting.

Soon after, Julia spots the man on the street and follows him to a strip club, where he works as a janitor. Irina, a dancer at the club, spots her. Julia questions Irina about the man, but she knows nothing. That night, Julia hears a scream from Irina’s apartment and convinces the landlady to unlock it, but they find no sign of Irina.

The next day, Cristian arrives searching for Irina. They try to confront the janitor at his apartment, but no one answers the door. After Christian leaves, Julia works up the nerve to knock on the door herself, but it is answered by an elderly man. As she gets on the elevator to leave, she sees the janitor. That night, a police officer arrives at her apartment accompanied by the man, identified as Daniel Weber, who accuses Julia of stalking him. The officer calls the incident a misunderstanding and Julia shakes Daniel’s hand. Francis later shows Julia a news report stating that the Spider has been apprehended.

Julia accompanies Francis to a company party and gleans that he has made jokes about her fears to his coworkers. She angrily leaves and boards the subway, where she notices Daniel in the near-empty car. When he attempts to explain why he watches her—that he lives an isolated, unexciting life caring for his father—Julia notices what appears to be the outline of a severed head in his shopping bag. She returns home and begins packing but is interrupted by music playing in Irina’s apartment. Inside, she finds Irina’s headless corpse before Daniel smothers her with a plastic bag.

When Julia regains consciousness, Daniel recounts how he killed Irina and hid with her body when Julia and the landlady entered the apartment. Julia hears Francis enter their apartment next door, but when she attempts to scream, Daniel slashes her throat. Francis calls Julia’s cell phone, which he hears ringing inside Irina’s apartment. He sees Daniel exiting and begins to walk toward him, but Julia, having feigned dying, suddenly kills Daniel with Irina’s pistol. She steps out of Irina’s apartment, covered in blood, and stares at Francis.