'Watcher' is about disbelief, fear and isolation. It's a chilling thriller worth seeing

The Bucharest apartment in which Julia and Francis have just moved features huge windows that allow the couple a view of whatever — and whoever — is outside.

They also, of course, allow people to see inside. Which proves problematic in “Watcher,” director Chloe Okuno’s feature debut.

It’s not exactly innovative, but it is an effectively creepy thriller, buoyed by the performance of Maika Monroe, who already has a free pass for life for her performance in “It Follows,” the best horror film of the century.

Julia (Monroe) and Francis (Karl Glusman) have moved to Romania for his job. Julia was an actress, but left the work to move with her husband. She’s figuring out what to do next, but at the moment, she’s bored, stuck in a country where she doesn’t speak the language (Francis does. His mother is Romanian) and doesn’t have much to do but poke around the city.

Early on, she notices a man in a window in the building across the street. He’s seemingly always there, always at night at least. He’s staring, and she becomes convinced that he is staring at her. One night she waves.

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Director Chloe Okuno keeps the suspense subtle, but insistent

And he waves back.

The man, played by Burn Gorman, creeps her out, understandably. She believes he is following her, first into a movie theater, then into a grocery store.

But is he? Francis, skeptical but not a jerk about it, suggesting that it isn’t unusual for a neighbor to shop at the same store.

Okuno cleverly keeps us in suspense — we see almost everything from Julia’s perspective, but not quite. Shots of a man who indeed seems to be following Julia stop at his chin. We can’t quite make out who he is.

Thus Julia falls into a familiar dilemma: She knows she is in danger and can’t make anyone else — any other men, specifically — believe her.

A police officer is no help. The only person who offers any kind of support is the woman who lives next door, Irina (Mădălina Anea).

Making matters worse, there is a serial killer on the loose, a killer so violent that his throat slashes basically decapitate his victims, one of whom was found near Julia and Francis’ apartment.

Maika Monroe's performance is the best thing about the movie

Julia is isolated in practically every way. Bucharest is evidently one of those places where the sun never shines, at least in movies, and it’s always raining or about to. (Except when it’s snowing.) She knows no one except Francis, and he’s always at work.

Francis invites a co-worker and his wife over for dinner. They speak Romanian and half the time don’t bother to clue her in on what they’re talking about. It’s obnoxious, but they’re seemingly oblivious.

That wrinkle, keeping isolated not just physically but socially, puts “Watcher” a cut above any number of this type of film.

Also, think about it from the police’s perspective. The man is staring from his window at Julia, but isn’t she also staring at him? At one point she sees him out and about and follows him — which is what she says he’s doing. Julia finds this understandably maddening, but it’s an interesting twist from Okuno and Zack Ford, who wrote the film.

However, Monroe's performance is the best thing the film has going for it. Her Julia has a no-nonsense quality, a belief in herself that supersedes bouts of self-doubt — and the doubts of seemingly everyone around her. It’s a regular-person sort of resolve, it's believable, and Monroe captures it perfectly.

Eventually the film's subtlety gives way to a more straightforward conclusion. But Okuno and Monroe still make “Watcher” worth watching.

'Watcher' 3.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Chloe Okuno.

Cast: Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman, Burn Gorman.

Rating: R for some bloody violence, language, and some sexual material/nudity.

Note: In theaters June 3.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maika Monroe is the best thing about 'Watcher,' Chloe Okuno's film.