‘I don’t think we should spy on our neighbours…’
It’s strange to see in recent years that huge swathes of the movie-going public have become more puritanical in their beliefs. Ironically, horror is as popular as ever with the incredibly gruesome Evil Dead Rise a recent example of a massive hit that boasts several horrific scenes but apparently a sex scene of any kind is now beyond the pale for some reason. The late ’80s/early ’90s heyday of the erotic thriller is long gone and I for one miss those movies. They were hysterical, melodramatic, campy fun and there should be more of that stuff kicking around in this age of everyone taking everything incredibly seriously (including cinema). The Voyeurs is a throwback to films like Fear, Sleeping With the Enemy and Fatal Attraction and I loved it…
When Pippa (Sydney Sweeney) and Thomas (Justice Smith) move into a new apartment building, they quickly develop an infatuation with the steamy couple that lives opposite them (played by Ben Hardy and Natasha Liu Bordizzo). What starts out as yet another rip-off of Rear Window becomes something else entirely.
Writer-director Michael Mohan’s follow-up to 2012’s Save the Date is a slick, sexy and mildly preposterous take on sexual politics and modern relationships. Sweeney confirms her ability to take fairly daft material and weave it into gold and Smith does a good job with a character who is an absolute wet lettuce on the page. Elsewhere, Hardy struggles a little to imbue his character with the menace the script requires but The Voyeurs is all about the plot and how ridiculous it is. The third-act twist is utterly delicious and there was never a single moment during Mohan’s film that I was bored – high praise indeed.
The Voyeurs is not a serious film despite its dark subject matter. What it definitely is, however, is entertaining. Recommended for everyone.