Movie Review: The Voyeurs (2021)

Star Trek: Discovery needs another episode before the next review– this week’s (somewhat disappointing) installment was too much a chapter– so here’s a review of a recent thriller. It’s not exactly our genre, but it does start with a classic suspense premise, and the plot turns on multiple applications of technology.

Title: The Voyeurs

Cast and Crew

Director and Writer: Michael Mohan

Sydney Sweeney as Pippa
Justice Smith as Thomas
Ben Hardy as Seb
Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Julia
Katharine King So as Ari
Cameo Adele as Joni
Jean Yoon as Dr. Sato
Cait Alexander as Sam
Blessing Adedijo as Mere
Bianca Blizzard as Model #1
Sandrine Bergeron as Model #2
Emily Shelton as Japanese Journalist

Premise

A couple move into a new apartment and realize they can see into the private life of the people across the street. They become obsessed, insert themselves into their lives—and then things turn dark.

High Point

The movie features a strong introduction and the first half makes effective, if R-rated, use of its Hitchcockian premise.

Low Point

Like many a thriller, it features twists. Some of these are intriguing, but the most significant twist is simultaneously telegraphed AND completely implausible. Seriously, the number of things that would have to come together for this plan to work makes the average Agatha Christie novel or Saw sequel look like a tale from a kindergarten primer.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 Rear Window and Blow-up meet contemporary technology and sex, with a side of OMG YOU WON’T BELIEVE TEH PLOT TWIST!!!

Effects: 4/6 This really isn’t an effects movie…

Production: 5/6 …but it does feature some interesting direction and visual style as it cavorts around the trendy edges of contemporary Montreal.

Acting: 4/6 It’s generally good. Much hangs on Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria) as our protagonist and she proves… adequate. Natasha Liu Bordizzo fares better as Julia. Ben Hardy’s Seb is a little campy, but he’s an eccentric, boundary-pushing artist, so perhaps that is credible.

Story: 3/6 The story begins with an impressive set-up, develops nicely, and then grows rapidly, increasingly ludicrous.

Emotional Response: 4/6 YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOUT YOUR CONFUSED THEMES FROM THE ROOFTOPS! They’re intrinsic to the story, and the viewers were following you.

Overall: 4/6 While the story strains credibility, I give it credit for raising a number of issues related to privacy, social media, media generally, and voyeurism.

I’ve been told the laser microphone they jerry-rig in this film could work, but they would face a number of obstacles in getting the quality of sound they seem to obtain so effortlessly. It’s still infinitely more probable than some of the plot twists.

In total, The Voyeurs receives 26/42