Netflix had high hopes from ‘The Watcher‘, its latest series based on a real-life crime story. For one, it is from the stables of Ryan Murphy, Netflix’s pricey catch for an exclusive content deal. It is created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the duo who gave us Netflix’s wildly popular true crime series, ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’.
Secondly, the stellar cast is to die for. The limited series stars Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Mia Farrow, Christopher Mcdonald, Jennifer Coolidge, among others. Thirdly, ‘The Watcher’ is based on a terrifying true crime story that has gripped the collective imagination of America.
However, despite all the positive elements of the series on the whole, ‘The Watcher’ is an epic miss for Netflix. Both critics and audiences have bashed the series – mostly for its messy writing and unimaginative direction. Some have given gone to the extent of proclaiming that Netflix’s ‘The Watcher’ has taken all the terror out of a truly terrifying real-life story. The criticism and backlash against ‘The Watcher’ is quite surprising, mainly because Netflix’s true crime series are always top notch and eminently watchable.
‘The Watcher’ however is anything but. The storyline is a disaster, with Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan squeezing baffling subplots into the narrative – the 19-year-old security equipment entrepreneur (Henry Hunter Hall) who ogles the 15-year-old daughter of the Brannock family; the jazz singer turned private investigator’s (Noma Dumezweni) uninteresting sob story; and the most bizarre of them all – tying in the story of real-life mass murderer John List with the story of the real-life Broaddus family.
The plot and direction of ‘The Watcher’ is truly bewildering, and quite boring, if we must say so. No wonder the Netflix series has garnered such poor reviews all around. The series is rated a mere 38% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics worldwide. Netflix must do better than this, if it wants to keep its title of the leading streaming service in the world.
‘The Watcher’ is currently streaming on Netflix worldwide. Have a look at its trailer here –
https://youtu.be/5HDkw100sXQ
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