'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Watcher is the latest addition to Netflix's growing list of terrifying true crime shows. After creating several popular shows, including American Horror Story, Scream Queens, Ratched, and the recently released Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Ryan Murphy and his frequent co-creator Ian Brennan are back with another true crime miniseries, The Watcher.
The Watcher is based on Reeves Wiedeman's The Haunting of a Dream House, which tells the true story of the Broaddus family, who were spied upon and threatened by a series of letters from a mysterious stalker who identified themselves as "The Watcher." These occurrences started after the family moved into their New Jersey home in 2014. The stalker was never found, and the Broadduses were forced to sell their home and leave town.
Ryan Murphy's fictionalized version stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as Nora and Dean Brannock, respectively, the married couple who move into their dream home in New Jersey along with their children. The show premiered on Netflix on October 13, 2022.
Before you watch The Watcher, check out these other stalker films.
Greta, Unsane, and three other stalker films like The Watcher
1) One Hour Photo
Written and directed by Mark Romanek, this 2002 psychological thriller featured none other than the brilliant Robin Williams. The thriller follows Seymour "Sy" Parrish, a lonely and obsessive photo technician at a one-hour photo stand at SavMart, who develops an unhealthy obsession with the seemingly perfect Yorkin family he has known and served for many years.
Sy's obsession with the Yorkins leads him to keep an extra set of their photographs with himself and interfere in their lives. Williams' terrifying and unnerving performance makes this an unforgettable watch as he chillingly informs the audience,
"The word snapshot was originally a hunting term."
2) Greta
Directed by Neil Jordan, this 2018 psychological thriller is replete with nail-biting moments that will indulge your paranoia. Starring the terrific duo of Isabelle Huppert as Greta, a lonely widow, and Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances, a young waitress, the thriller showcases how good deeds can have surprisingly sinister consequences.
The story follows Greta's obsession with Frances since the latter befriended her after returning her lost handbag. Their relationship started as a seemingly innocent friendship. Frances, who felt isolated in her new surroundings, found a kindred spirit in the lonely Greta. However, Greta sees herself as a suitable replacement for Frances' dead mother and Frances as her surrogate daughter.
Greta soon starts stalking and harassing Frances, willing to go to any drastic lengths to keep Frances with her. The thriller exposes Greta's cruel history as she strives for a sense of permanent companionship with Frances.
3) Unsane
Directed by Steven Soderbergh and shot entirely on an iPhone 7 plus, this 2018 psychological thriller encapsulates the horrors of gaslighting through the chilling story of a young woman. The thriller follows the journey of Sawyer Valentini (played by Claire Foy), who is stalked by an overweight bearded man named David Strine (played by Joshua Leonard).
When Sawyer moves to another city to escape her stalker and makes an appointment at a psychiatric center, she is informed that she has unwittingly admitted herself to a locked mental asylum. Terrified, she begins to see her stalker as one of the male nurses inside the psychiatric facility, where she is trapped against her will.
4) Hush
Directed by Mike Flanagan, this 2016 film is one of the most petrifying slasher films ever featuring a scary stalker. The film features Flanagan's wife, Kate Siegel, who co-wrote the film with him, as Madison "Maddie" Young, a deaf and mute writer who lost her ability to hear and speak after contracting bacterial meningitis at the age of 13.
Maddie, who lives alone in the woods with her cat, is stalked by a masked man who uses her weakness as an opportunity to stalk and torment her. Throughout the film, the stalker threatens to break in and kill Maddie, leaving her to fend for herself and fear for her life.
5) Watcher
Directed and written by Chloe Okuno, this 2022 psychological thriller will constantly keep you on your toes with its horrifying stalker story. The film follows Julia (played by Maika Monroe), an actress who moves to Bucharest with her husband Francis (played by Karl Glusman). Soon Julia finds herself being stalked by a creepy man who lives in a building across from her apartment.
Don't forget to watch The Watcher only on Netflix.
