Netflix has recently unveiled the first teaser trailer for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming horror series, The Watcher, which is set to be released on 13 October.
Based on true events, this seven-episode series follows Derek Brannock and his wife, Nora as they move into their suburban dream home in a seemingly idyllic neighbourhood. While the trailer starts calmly, things start to take a more sinister turn when the family start receiving ominous letters from an unknown sender who calls himself “the Watcher.”
His creepily disguised voiceover interrupts the tranquil family set-up, saying: “I’ve been put in charge of watching you. This message will not be the last. I am The Watcher. Your house is my obsession, and now, you are, too.”
As the trailer continues, paranoia creeps in as we get small glimpses of this mysterious figure lurking in the shadows while a chilling version of ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ plays in the background. The editing becomes more and more frantic as our characters become consumed with stress and fear over who, or what, may be watching them, filling viewers with a lingering sense of dread.
The series stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as Nora and Derek Brannock, respectively. Joining them on screen are Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Margo Martindale, Noma Dumezweni, Terry Kinney, Joe Mantello, Richard Kind, Christopher McDonald, Michael Nouri, Isabel Gravitt, Henry Hunter Hall and Luke David Blumm.
American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy and his long-time producing partner Ian Brennan worked together to create the series. This will be the latest in a slew of projects for Netflix from Murphy, which includes the recently released Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a series remake of A Chorus Line, and a yet-untitled Andy Warhol series. They also serve as executive producers alongside Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Bryan Unkeless, Eric Newman, Paris Barclay, Watts, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost and Scoop Wasserstein.
It is inspired by a New York Magazine article by Reeves Wiedeman, first published in 2018, which chronicled the chilling story of the Broaddus family who bought a house on 657 Boulevard in the New Jersey suburb of Westfield in 2014. Over the years, they received a series of threatening letters from someone called “the Watcher”, warning them that their new home and young children were under constant surveillance. So far, this person is yet to be identified.
Words by Katie Heyes
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