Maika Monroe is being haunted by another unseen threat. The “It Follows” breakout stars in “Watcher,” a psychological thriller about a woman who is being stalked. A newly released teaser for the pic introduces us to Julia, a young actress who is new to town and is disturbed to discover that a stranger is spying on her from a window across the street.
“He’s been watching us since we moved in,” Julia tells her boyfriend. But she seemingly hasn’t had a good look at the guy, and she becomes uncertain if he’s staring right at her or looking at all.
“Watcher” marks Chloe Okuno’s feature directorial debut. The film premiered at Sundance.
“I’ve always admired true psychological thrillers that are dedicated to getting us as much as possible into the head of our protagonist – making us feel everything that they are feeling. I was drawn to the simplicity of it as well – the story of a woman who is not believed,” Okuno told us. “It can be a very devastating experience, and one that many people have probably encountered at one time or another. Women in particular frequently are confronted with this sort of patronizing stance from the people around them.”
The filmmaker explained, “We learn to modify our emotions so that we cannot be written off as overly emotional, even if those emotions are justified. It becomes a very exhausting cycle. This is a movie that explores that within a more heightened genre scenario, but the core frustrations are ones that I’ve experienced personally and was interested in exploring.”
Monroe’s other credits include “Greta” and “After Everything.”
Written by Okuno and Zack Ford, “Watcher” hits theaters June 3.