REVIEW Watcher – the thriller set in Bucharest

Watcher is the latest thriller film whose action takes place right in Romania, more precisely in Bucharest. In fact, for veracity, absolutely all scenes are filmed in Bucharest.

Since I couldn’t miss a thriller film that, on top of that, is also filmed in our country, I watched Watcher, like any other Romanian cinephile, passionate about the dark side of cinema. I did this without much hope of liking the new film released in 2022, but out of curiosity.

Watcher, an acceptable film that doesn’t make you feel bad for wasting your time with it

Right off the bat I’ll say that Watcher doesn’t feel like an American film at all, having that slow European slow-burn, but also some suspenseful (anticipatory) scenes that make it an acceptable film of its genre.

Almost unnaturally, but refreshingly, the film does no image damage to our country, but presents the reality on the ground without much emphasis on poverty and other social problems.

I thoroughly appreciated the fact that actor Karl Glusman (whom I previously knew from Nocturnal Animals – also Zoe Kravitz’s husband) took the trouble to learn Romanian just long enough to utter a few phrases, in the film. And speaking of which, you’ll also see some Romanian actors in Watcher, including Daniel Nuță, Tudor Petruț and Mădălina Anea.

Obviously, the star of this film is the Watcher himself, played by Burn Gorman, an actor seemingly made to play such a role, a serial killer and/or psychopath.

As you’ve already guessed, the film tells the story of a serial killer who becomes obsessed with an American woman who has moved to Bucharest to follow her half-Romanian husband (Glusman), who has just taken a job in a Romanian subsidiary of a large international marketing corporation.

I’d recommend you see this series if you’re good at heart and especially if you don’t mind blood.