Neighborhood Watch‘s director Duncan Skiles reveals the biggest surprises and the natural challenges of making an indie film. Neighborhood Watch is a grounded mystery film set in a grimy town, focusing on Jack Quaid’s Simon. A mentally unwell and quietly exhausted young man, no one will believe Simon when he claims that he saw a woman being kidnapped. With no other options, he recruits his prickly neighbor Ed to help him investigate what happened, setting up an unlikely buddy mystery.
The film’s darker elements give way to some surprisingly strong character moments that shift from funny to dramatic with ease. That was very much the intention for the film, but even the filmmakers were surprised by the chemistry that Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan found on set. During an interview with Screen Rant, Neighborhood Watch director Duncan Skiles reflected on the challenges of producing the indie film, the biggest surprises Jack and Jeffrey found during production, and if he thinks Ed and Simon could carry future stories.
Finding The Tonal Balancing Act To Neighborhood Watch With Jack Quaid And Jeffrey Dean Morgan
“Both Of Them Were So Open To Being Vulnerable…”
At the heart of Neighborhood Watch is the dynamic between Simon and Ed, with both men finding an unexpected bond during their time together. “I think the central relationship is what anchored the film,” Skiles explained. “So long as we kind of took that seriously, what the characters and what they wanted, it helped tie together the tonal threads. Maybe it’s a little bit of whiplash going from hallucinations to the broad comedy of getting spritzed in the face with hand sanitizer. I hope it comes together in the end, because the story works. A lot of that comes back to the script that Sean Farley wrote. It was always the to have an embodiment of his inner voice outside of Simon.
“It felt very cinematic. It felt like an opportunity to do something interesting visually and gave us an opportunity to create a memorable image.” The low-budget nature of Neighborhood Watch was something the cast and crew quickly had to adapt to, especially with the film’s very short filming window. The second feature film from Skiles, Neighborhood Watch benefits from that grounded touch that adds natural stakes and personal comedic touches to the scenes between Jack Quaid’s Simon and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Ed.
“Both of them were incredibly understanding of the indie-ness of the situation,” Skiles noted, explaining that both actors were incredibly supportive of hm given the circumstances. “We had no time. We had 18 shooting days, and it was very indie in a lot of ways. I appreciate that there wasn’t any kind of “big Hollywood” atтιтude… Both of them were so open to being vulnerable.” Skiles was complimentary to both actors, especially Quaid, given the amount of experimentation he brought to the role of Simon.
Sometimes that meant we were ʙuттing heads, but ultimately to the creative benefit of the movie.
Still dealing with schizophrenia despite being recently released from a mental hospital, Simon is a deceptively complicated character that Jack Quaid was able to infuse with equal parts sympathy, humor, and unexpected intensity. “Jack was really open to experimentation,” Skiles recalled. “Jack is the type of guy who will do multiple takes and try a different version for each take. You can have options in the edit, but he’ll also be workshopping it until we kind of dial into something that feels right.”
Skiles recalled finding more tension with Jeffrey than Jack on-set, almost entirely because Jeff is “who he is, and that’s what makes him so good on screen. He’s kind of a no-filter type of guy, which I love and really appreciate. Sometimes that meant we were ʙuттing heads, but ultimately to the creative benefit of the movie. I think you have smooth sailing the whole time, the result might be kind of boring. I think conflict is good for creativity.”
The Surprises Of Neighborhood Watch And The Possibility Of Future Stories
“I Absolutely Would Love To See A Continuation”
The surprising aspects of Neighborhood Watch are the ways the film develops from a more dramatic piece to something willing to find a piece that was also emotional and surprisingly funny. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in particular, finds a lot of silly edges with Ed, whether that’s spraying people in the eyes with hand sanitizer or brushing off medical advice while playing online poker. There are few aspects of Ed that steadily bleed out from his external shell, an effective aspect of the performance that sometimes even caught Skiles by surprise.
“Jeff surprised me with how his performance turned out. I thought I was super dialed in and watching them closely. But then when we had the rough cut put together, and I showed it to an audience to get their feedback, I realized all that he was doing. They were both honestly doing so much that was subtle and didn’t come through until I had some distance from it. Watching it on a big screen with a group of people who hadn’t seen it before, that was special.”
When asked if he could see a future where Simon and Ed team up for some more mysteries, Skiles revealed his excitement at the idea. “I absolutely would love to see a continuation. An episodic story with a different mystery every movie or episode, or a mystery that evolves over a whole season of TV. I’m not sure, but I would love to spend more time with these characters. Just the scenes of them hanging out together worked so well in the middle of the film.”
“I originally cut the scene where Jeffrey tries to teach Simon eye contact. I cut that early on in the process because I thought it was slowing things down. But then Sean and Chris Valnet, our writer and producer, asked me to try it out. So, I put it back in and screened for people, and it killed. It was one of the best parts of the movie. That’s when I realized that what I had been drawn to originally with this film was just hanging out with these two characters. I love that it works.”
Looking back at how the film came together with the focus on the characters in surprising ways, Skiles noted how pleased he was with the way the film came together with that character focus. “I think it was Martin Scorsese who said that he’s much more interested in story than plot, and I agree. I like movies where two people are just hanging out and talking and growing a little bit like that. I didn’t have confidence in doing that, then I realized that was all already there. It’s cool to be reᴀssured like that.”
Neighborhood Watch is now playing in theaters and available through Video on Demand.
