I saw The Watcher because I am a fan of Tracie Thoms and indiscriminately added all her available films to my queue. The movie seemed initially promising. The protagonists were an interracial couple. The real estate agent was creepy in an adults of It’s Derry, Maine sort of way. There was a lot of atmosphere. There are a couple of Star Trek alum in the cast. When the wife eats the goodies left on the porch, he looks at her questioningly and says, “Porch cookies.” Guess the race? It was hilarious. Side note: I’ve eaten mailbox cookies, but I’ve known the person for a long time, I was hungry, and I’m half white and did not tell my mom that I did it. You always hide your stupidity from your black mama!
Then people started doing stupid things. I think that it is only in movies that there is a section of the house that you don’t explore before buying. Even if someone lost the key, you would get a locksmith over there to bust in and check out if there was any mold. Who happens to run with cake to give as a present? As a snack or a reward, maybe, but to give away, no. At one point towards the end of the movie, every supporting character casually mentions that he or she is a real estate agent. One neighbor acts really crazy then the wife goes for a walk with this person. No. Also when the first person who occupied the house visits the husband, it does not really make sense with the rest of the story given what happens later.
The Watcher could have been better if instead of tiptoeing around racism, it was just explicit. We could have had Get Out, the neighbor edition, but the movie punked out. I thought that it was interesting which neighbors were initially friendly to which half of the couple, and which half of the couple reciprocated that camaraderie. There is even a reference to not liking the direction that the neighborhood is going, which is code for diversity. Instead the movie prefers to really focus on real estate envy then has a twist ending that would displease M. Night Shylaman. No couple that young would volunteer for that crap. Nope. They didn’t even like that person.
If I am being generous, The Watcher is Rosemary’s Baby meets The Village meets The House of Sand and Fog meets Dream Home. If I’m not, it is a Lifetime movie that had good bones, but should have been gutted. It is a pity because the cast is charming and gave better performances than the story deserved. Side note: it is loosely based on a real story of harassment that was never resolved in New Jersey!