Moving into a new home is supposed to be a celebration. When an unknown individual starts sending creepy letters, claiming to have watched the home for the last two decades, it puts a bit of a damper on things. This is exactly what happens in the new Netflix limited series The Watcher, which is based on a true story.
The streaming giant bought the rights in 2018. American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy and his collaborator Ian Brennan are credited as creators. The two are also executive producers alongside Eric Newman (Narcos: Mexico), Bryan Unkeless (The Hunger Games saga), Henry Joost (Catfish: The TV Show), Ariel Schulman (Catfish: The TV Show), Paris Barclay (Station 19), and Eric Kovtun (Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story).
Be prepared for a wild open house as we share everything you need to know about The Watcher.
The Watcher: The Plot
The Brannocks move into a new home, and all seems to be going well until a mysterious letter appears in the mailbox. What then starts is a series of terror as the family feels unsafe in their new home. The letters keep coming, the writer claiming that they will watch the family, that they are their obsession, and that they need to "give the house what it wants."
This seems to send the parents into a spiral. Everywhere Dean (Bobby Cannavale), the father, looks, he seems to find another neighbor watching them. One of the neighbors even comments to him that they thought they could be friends, so it's unclear what dynamic is at play between the Brannocks and their neighbors. The series synopsis says the letters are "just the beginning as the neighborhood’s sinister secrets come spilling out," which could mean there is much more to each neighbor, and the neighborhood, than meets the eye.
The trailer shows a few concerning images that make it seem like the series is adding something new to the story. From a scene featuring four people lying on the floor (presumably dead) being investigated by the police to the Brannock parents running through what appears to be an underground tunnel, the Watcher, both the show and the person, are sure to surprise.
The Watcher: The Cast
Naomi Watts is Nora Brannock, and Bobby Cannavale is Dean Brannock. Watts is known for her work in The Ring, Twin Peaks, and Goodnight Mommy. Cannavale can be seen in Will & Grace and Boardwalk Empire.
Additional cast members include Mia Farrow (Death on the Nile, The Omen) as Pearl, Noma Dumezweni (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Theodora, Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Mitch, Terry Kinney (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile) as Jasper, Margo Martindale (Impeachment: American Crime Story) as Mo, Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) as realtor Karen Calhoun, and Joe Mantello (Hollywood), Luke David Blumm (The King of Staten Island), Christopher McDonald (Hacks), Michael Nouri (Yellowstone), Isabel Gravitt (Little Fires Everywhere), and Henry Hunter Hall (Harriet) in unconfirmed roles.
Release Date
The Watcher will be available to stream on Netflix starting October 13, 2022.
Everything Else We Know
The story of "Watcher" took the internet by storm. It began in 2014 when the Broaddus family purchased a home in the matriarch Maria's hometown. As they began to renovate, they started receiving concerning letters in the mail. The writer called themselves the Watcher, saying that watching the house was a family tradition.
Over the course of three letters, the writer asked why they moved into the home, made comments about their children, and seemed upset that they were making changes to the property. Based on the letter text provided by The Independent, the individual made it clear they had no intention of leaving the family alone. The Broadduses ended up selling the home at a significant loss five years later, based on reports from The New York Times.
I pass by many times a day. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too Broaddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to 657 Boulevard and now it has brought you to me.
However, there are concerns about the letters, the Broaddus family, and whether the entire situation was a hoax. The family that lived in the house before them, the Woods, had lived there for nearly three decades with no letters or signs of a "watcher" stalking their home. One of their neighbors was investigated by the police as the writer but was eventually cleared. While the family continued to look for suspects, many began to think they had sent themselves the letters, as described in The Cut.
People speculated that the couple had buyer's remorse or quickly realized they couldn't afford the $1.3 million home. To try and get out of buying the home, they sent creepy letters. The first letter was postmarked on June 4, which was actually before the sale information went public. The previous owners never had a sign advertising the sale in their yard, so it is odd that the writer would know a new family with children was coming before they'd even moved in.
These theories were seemingly reinforced in the public's mind due to the family's previous home buying history and their tight lips regarding the situation as a whole. It didn't help matters that the patriarch of the family, Derek, admitted to writing similar letters to his neighbors after several failed attempts to sell the home and a denied proposal to split the lot into two new homes. The writer of the original letters has never been positively identified.
While you wait to see what The Watcher has in store, check out some of the best miniseries of the year so far.