(Mini Series) The Watcher - Pretty Intriguing Psychological Thriller Drama based on True Events

And another series that I was a bit late in watching because of so many new movies and series released on Netflix in the past few weeks. But after few days, I finally finished this one last night. Well, here goes.

Brief Story Line

Dean Brannock (Bobby Cannavale - Blonde, Sing 2 etc) and his wife Nora (Naomi Watts - Boss Level, 21 Grams etc) decided to buy their dream house in the suburb through the real estate agent Karen Calhoun (Jennifer Coolidge - The White Lotus, American Pie movies etc). After moving in with their teenage daughter Ellie (Isabel Gravitt) and young son Carter (Luke David Blumm), Dean and Nora met with various people in the neighborhood such as the elderly couple Mitch (Richard Kind - Spin City TV series, Cars etc) and Mo (Margo Martindale - Instant Family, The Americans TV series etc) and the woman who wanted to preserve history Pearl Winslow (Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby, Alice etc) and her younger brother Jasper (Terry Kinney - Oz TV series, Save the Last Dance etc).

As soon as they moved in, the Brannocks started to receive threatening letter from a person who used the name The Watcher. Feeling harassed, they reported to the police chief Detective Chamberland (Christopher McDonald - Hacks TV series, Exposed etc) though he was unable to really help. So he suggested them to hire private detective and recommended Theodora Birch (Noma Dumezweni - Made for Love TV series, The Kid Who Would be King etc). They also put alarm and camera system with the help from local security system entrepreneur named Dakota (Henry Hunter Hall).

However, things did not get any better and the letters kept on coming that created anxiety for the Brannocks. So what would happen to them? You can find out in this mini series.

End of Brief Story Line

This series actually started off quite brightly with the Brannocks moving into the new house and getting weird vibes from their neighbors and the harassing letters. The subsequent episodes were also quite interesting as it focused on the mystery solving of who actually sent the letters. As we usually would find in this kind of series, there would be few deceptions of the person responsible. Oh there were one or two brief jump scare scenes also but not up to the level of making this a horror genre.

The series did not focused solely on the investigation but also showed the effects of those letters on the Brannocks, in particular Dean as it burned him physically and mentally. It even made their marriage became strained due to various reasons, which was why I sometimes felt it was a combination of psychological thriller and drama. The mini series only had 7 episodes with roughly 40+ minutes except for the final episode that was longer. In my view, the first few episodes were quite thrilling but the middle part were not too intriguing while the final episode was surprising but not too satisfying. However, I could understand the way it was done because it was after all inspired by true events.

From what I read, this series was loosely based on article in New York Times in 2018 titled The Haunting of a Dream House written by Reeves Wiedeman. It told the experience of married couple Derek and Maria Broaddus who received threatening letters from a stalker when they moved to 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. Now I am not sure how much of the series were dramatization or fictionalized but I believe the real ending as written in the final scene of the 7th episode was true.

The cast here did their job nicely with Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts realistic portrayal of the Brannocks. My favorite character here was definitely the detective Birch who was brilliant till the end. Jennifer Coolidge and Christopher McDonald were perfect in their roles, plus the veteran Margo Martindale and Mia Farrow who were convincing as well. Oh there were familiar names to me who were the creators of the series, i.e. Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story, 9-1-1 and many more) and Ian Brennan (writer of Ratched, co-creator of Glee, The Politican etc).

For me this mini series was quite intriguing in term of providing mystery and the investigation was interesting in the beginning but was not too emphasized in the middle as it focused more on the drama. The conclusion might not be too satisfying for audience but in term of dramatization, it was pretty successful in doing so. Hence if you are looking for a psychological thriller with some mystery based on true events, then you could give this a try. But do not expect the investigation to be the truly brilliant whodunit type (those suspects deception was a bit too obvious for me). 

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars