The 2022 psychological horror film Watcher creates tension from its beginning to its closing scene that will leave audiences feeling thoroughly unsettled. The film follows a young couple, Julia and Francis, getting settled into a new apartment after relocating from the US to Bucharest. Watcher stars scream queen Maika Monroe as Julia, a woman who becomes increasingly isolated in the foreign city and is convinced that a man in an apartment across the street is stalking her. Like many great psychological thrillers, Watcher creates an uneasy feeling that will stay with audiences after the movie ends.

Watcher is arguably one of Maika Monroe’s best horror films because of how perfectly she plays the character of Julia. The movie quickly establishes how out of place she feels and how little her husband does to ᴀssuage that feeling. What’s more, Monroe is well-matched by Burn Gorman as the watcher, who is perfectly creepy despite (or maybe because of) only having a few lines throughout the entire film. Following the critical success of Watcher, Monroe and director Chloe Okuno will team up again for another horror film, which will hopefully match the excitement of Watcher‘s intense ending.

What Happens In Watcher’s Ending?

Julia’s Fears Are Proven Correct

While Watcher‘s first half keeps its pacing intentionally fairly slow to really build up Julia’s feeling of isolation and let the audience get that same sense of her loneliness and fear, everything comes to a head in its second half. After the police come to Julia and Francis’ apartment to tell them that Daniel Weber has reported her for stalking, the couple attends an event for Francis’ job. While there, Francis and Julia get into a fight, and she leaves angrily, only to come face to face with Daniel on the subway.

Daniel attempts to explain the reason that he was always watching her from the window. While Julia momentarily sympathizes with him, she becomes overwhelmed with fear when she notices a bag he is carrying that has the outline of a severed head. Returning home, she hears loud music from her neighbor’s apartment and goes to check on her. However, Julia shockingly finds her neighbor’s body without a head and is subsequently attacked from behind by Daniel, who puts a plastic bag over her head.

After regaining consciousness, Daniel explains to Julia that he had killed Irina the previous night and hid in the closet after she and the other neighbors came into the apartment to check on her. At the same time, Francis returns from his event and sees that Julia has laid a suitcase on the bed but is no longer in their apartment. Upon calling her phone, he realizes that she is next door, but when she attempts to call for help, Daniel slits Julia’s throat, seemingly killing her. However, she regains consciousness and shoots Daniel before he can attack Francis too, finally proving her right.

Was Daniel Weber The Spider?

The Movie Does Provide One Detail That It May Not Be Him

One of the biggest questions that Watcher raises is whether Daniel Weber actually is The Spider, the serial killer that Julia learns about at the beginning of the movie. Much of the evidence seems to indicate that he is, but the movie does include one strange scene that could cast doubt on that ᴀssumption. Midway through the film, Francis tells Julia that The Spider has been caught and shows her a news report to that effect. Francis also mentions that the killer’s DNA was found at the crime scene, providing strong evidence that he, rather than Daniel, was the killer.

While Francis clearly intends for the report to clear up Julia’s doubts about Daniel Weber, she remains convinced that there is something wrong about him. While Francis continues to doubt her, the audience quickly learns that she was right to be afraid. When Julia finds Irina’s headless body, it does seem like Daniel is The Spider, based on the previous pattern of killings being very similar. This means that the other news report either blamed an innocent man or his crime was unrelated. In either case, Watcher does leave some ambiguity as to whether Daniel actually committed the other murders.

What Will Happen To Julia And Francis’ Relationship After Watcher’s Ending

Their Status Was Left Unknown In Watcher’s Ending

The relationship between Julia and Francis noticeably deteriorates over the course of Watcher, leaving their fate at the end of the movie unclear. While their disconnect happens subtly at the beginning of the film, with him often being gone at work, things become more apparent as the movie progresses. Francis quite openly does not believe that Julia is being watched from across the street or followed during the day. His disregard for Julia’s well-being heavily contributes to her feelings of isolation, culminating in their fight at his work event.

Throughout the movie, Julia attempts to learn Romanian to surprise Francis with her knowledge later, but this effort takes a disappointing turn when she begins to understand that people at Francis’s work event are making fun of her. During a conversation with his coworkers, she overhears them make a joke about her having The Spider to keep her company during the day, causing her to confront Francis and leave the event. While Francis eventually learns that Julia was right the whole time, his betrayal may not be easy for her to forgive after the film’s ending.

Why Daniel Was Really Watching Julia

He Felt Less Alone Watching Her

Watcher sets up a very disturbing villain who surprisingly does very little, but that is precisely what makes the role work. Daniel Weber is introduced as an unknown man who lives across the street from Julia and Francis and often watches her through the window at night. Daniel’s presence is incredibly sinister, and actor Burn Gorman pulls the creepy character off very well. Later, Daniel follows Julia into a movie theater and then into a grocery store, scaring her further and proving that his actions were motivated by his desire to make her his next victim.

Though the most obvious reason that Daniel was watching Julia was simply that he was stalking her to determine whether she could become his next victim, Watcher does hint at another reason for his actions. When Julia sees Daniel on the subway, he tells her that watching people is simply a way for him to cope with the loneliness that he feels from taking care of his elderly father. While this explanation could be a lie, it seems more likely that there is some element of truth to Daniel’s claims that connect his isolation with his murders.

Watcher’s Real Meaning Explained

The Movie Highlights Julia’s Loneliness

Watcher‘s disturbing tone and plot make it an excellent horror film, but it is actually even deeper than audiences might initially think. The movie expertly explores the feelings of loneliness and isolation that Julia experiences and how that can be applied more generally to being in an unknown place. She is a clear outsider, and even her own husband does not attempt to make her feel more welcome. In this sense, Julia and the film’s villain, Daniel, actually have quite a bit in common since both characters lack a strong connection to the world around them.

Daniel and Julia are great mirrors of each other in Watcher because both struggle to find their place in the world and eventually go to dark places because of that. While Julia is not crazy for believing that someone is out to get her, her loneliness and separation from her peers and even her husband make her feel like she can no longer trust herself. Overall, Watcher is the perfect psychological horror for audiences who are interested in exploring how one character’s feelings can play out in a very physical manner and still leave several questions open for interpretation.