‘The Watcher’ Review: Ryan Murphy’s Next True Crime Netflix Series Is a Joyless Camp Fest
thewrap.commammoth launch of “Dahmer,” “The Watcher” adaptation drains all the potential relatability and genuine terror out of the source material.
With a subtler hand, and a much shorter runtime, a film could have explored the rich themes of the dark side of upward mobility and the erosion of civility among neighbors while serving up subtle but real scares, toying with the idea that the titular letter-writer could be any smiling neighbor at the grocery store.The neighbors in Murphy’s “The Watcher” wouldn’t be even remotely recognizable in the real world, so we get none of that all-too-believable dread.
Instead, the fictionalized Nora and Dean Brannock (Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale) encounter a parade of caricatures in Westfield, New Jersey, each only too happy to rant about property lines and “you city folk.” Directly over the hedge of their new dreamhouse are Margo Martindale and Richard Kind, who are put to poor use as a bizarre Boomer couple who tell Dean to watch himself within seconds of meeting him.
Mia Farrow and Terry Kinney play Pearl and Jasper Willow, a mother and son who walked straight out of “American Gothic.” Jennifer Coolidge manages to delight, as always, as a real estate agent who should be cast in “Selling Turnpike.”If you know anything about the actual story, it’s hard to find anything to enjoy even in the fun performances.
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