Spoiler warning! This article contains spoilers for the Amazon Original movie “The Voyeurs.”
While scrolling through Prime Video, which is available for free with a Prime Student membership, trying to find a movie to watch, I came across the movie The Voyeurs and decided to give it a try. The Voyeurs is a great thriller movie to watch during a movie night with friends or even just a movie night to yourself.
Summary
Written and directed by Michael Mohan, The Voyeurs is a domestic thriller full of sex, death and many plot twists. It follows the story of Pippa and her boyfriend Thomas as they move into a new apartment. The couple soon realizes that they can see directly into their neighbor Seb’s (Ben Hardy) and Julia’s (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) apartment. Both Pippa and Thomas get enthralled with the other couple, watching their intimate bedroom and personal lives through binoculars.
This infatuation quickly turns into an addiction for Pippa as she learns of the couple’s troubling relationship. Pippa is soon visited by Julia at her job as an optometrist. They become friends and make plans to hang out. Thomas gets an uneasy feeling about the spying they’ve done and confronts Pippa about it. They argue about whether they should save Julia from her cheating husband but Pippa ends up going behind Thomas’ back as she continues watching this relationship.
While this is a summary, the few final acts deserve to be experienced on your first watch. They are full of suspense and have huge plot twists that will have you shocked until the very end.
Review
Mohan wrote this story with the intention of putting his own twist on the “somebody’s watching you” trope. In most scary movies, the idea of someone being watched is a terrifying thought, but in this movie, it’s a bit more realistic. The main characters are aware that they’re going against their better judgment by watching the other couple, but stopping at this point is practically impossible for them, they’ve formed a connection and feel like they’re more than welcomed to watch the struggling couple.
Along with the movie’s meaning, the actors who portray the characters are great. Sydney Sweeny, who plays Pippa, does an amazing job at portraying the worry, loss, and eventual betrayal she goes through. Both Ben Hardy and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s portrayal of cruel stuck-up artists makes you genuinely feel that they are bad people even though they’re just playing characters. While the characters could have been written to have a bit more depth to them, it’s easy to get interested enough to follow their stories regardless of how little we know about them.
The movie is full of foreshadowing, hinting to the viewers from the very beginning that this story does not end well. The film uses visual metaphors and shot composition to help the audience understand what the character is thinking and going through when not talking on screen. This is definitely a movie you will need to watch a second time around in order to catch every subtle hint and double meanings that are thrown at you.
If you are interested in watching this movie, and I recommend that you do, The Voyeurs is available to stream only on Prime Video –and if you sign up for a free 6 month trial of Prime Student, you’ll get to enjoy Prime Video for FREE!
Already seen it? Tell us what you think by tagging us @HerCampusSJSU!