Guillermo del Toro Highly Recommends This Chilling New Thriller Now Streaming On Shudder
Guillermo del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Blade II, and more, knows horror. He’s a king of practical effects and knows how to get under your skin. So when he has a movie recommendation, you know it’s good. This weekend, he took to Twitter to share that we all need to watch director Chloe Okuno’s directorial debut Watcher. And, it’s streaming now on Shudder.
Okuno burst into the minds of horror fans with her segment “Storm Drain” in last year’s V/H/S/94. Basically, she’s the genius that brought us Raatma. We have her to thank for our new lord and savior.
Now, she’s released her feature film debut Watcher starring horror icon Maika Monroe. Described by del Toro as “compelling, visually precise”, the film follows Monroe’s Julia who has just moved to Bucharest with her husband for his new job. Friendless and unable to speak the language, she tries to find ways to spend her days without losing her mind. But, as a serial killer dubbed the Spider menaces the city, Julia begins to think she’s his next victim. Watcher is steeped in paranoia, where everything and everyone feels sinister.
Read del Toro’s recommendation below:
This is a compelling, visually precise and really handsomely mounted thriller- and the way architecture and frames constrain the characters is nifty and cool. https://t.co/kwnrjKXM9l
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) August 26, 2022
Guillermo del Toro isn’t joking about the beautiful use of architecture in the film. Okuno works with director of photography Benjamin Kirk Nielsen to make the city feel incredibly claustrophobic yet empty at the same time. Each frame is beautifully blocked to amp up the tension while highlighting the film’s artistry.
And of course Monroe’s performance is pitch perfect. She knows how to command the screen, imbuing Julia’s vulnerability with an essence of strength that never renders her a victim.
In his review out of Sundance, Dread Central’s Chad Collins wrote:
Watcher is coldly, mutedly terrifying. Expertly crafted and chillingly conceived, it’s bound to scare the hell out of its audience.
What did you think of Watcher? Are you going to check it out on Shudder? Let us know on Twitter @DreadCentral.
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