Michael Mohan’s “The Voyeurs” boasts of a titillating erotic thriller designed to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. As the name implies, the movie is envisioned as quite the “eyeful” considering Mohan’s deliberate attempt of suspense and foreshadowing throughout the 116-minute runtime.
Hitchcockian Themes Throughout Mohan’s Vision
The plot begins by focusing on a young loving couple (Sydney Sweeney, Justice Smith) moving into an apartment. A sharp contrast with their passionate, raunchy neighbours (Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Ben Hardy) is soon follows. They soon discover their ability to see clearly into their neighbour’s apartment and, evidently, lives. Mohan’s scene layout encourages the camera to capture the daily routines of other nearby apartments. It recycles Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” concept thus, relaying a watered-down version of its Hitchcockian superior counterpart (which most young viewers may have not had the opportunity to watch).
What begins as a spontaneous pastime of observing their drama-filled neighbours, (Seb being a professional photographer and Julia a former model) slowly morphs into the more sinister extremity of obsession. Pippa (Sydney Sweeney) and her boyfriend Thomas (Justice Smith) venture further. They crash Seb and Julia’s Halloween party; here, they get closer to the subject of their obsession, planting a device to aid their eavesdropping. Mohan’s repetitive cuts to eggs split down the middle with yolk running, birds by Pippa’s window, and even her job as an ophthalmologist all reinforce the important role ‘sight’ plays in the movie.
Through ‘sight,’ Pippa and Thomas learn of their neighbour’s infidelity; this justifies Pippa telling Julia (under the pretense of it “being the right thing to do”) against Thomas’s better judgement. The news causes Julia to seemingly commit suicide; a rift thus forms in Pippa’s relationship, leading to her breakup with Thomas.
An Eye for an Eye?
Pippa wasn’t far from the truth when she told her friend Ari (Katharine King So) “They’re exhibitionists, they want us to watch them.” What she didn’t consider was the neighbours watching her back. After the revelation (*spoilers ahead*) of Julia’s faked death, the couple confessed they had lured Pippa and the now late Thomas into watching them as inspiration for their art exhibition.
During a speech, her neighbours mention the illegality of Pippa’s actions (watching them); when ironically, they were doing the exact same thing. The hypocritical nature of their speech causes Mohan’s point to fall flat. Thomas’s death was considered suicide over his grief of Pippa having sex with Seb (after they had broken up). Yet, through a number of dead birds by the window, Pippa deciphered Julia poisoned Thomas; this causes her to enact revenge by drugging and blinding them at her eye clinic.
Plot Twists Among Plot Twists
The elaborate plot twist and reveals meant to shock and surprise viewers, felt rushed and sloppy. By attempting to convey so much information in a short time, the plot loses meaning, with the thesis blurred. It seems unlikely murder comes to mind for the success of an art exhibition. Nor would inflicting blindness be the first line of revenge (the police maybe-which surprisingly made no appearance for the entirety of the movie). If such is the reality we live in, its truly fearful.
It’s quite obvious Mohan wished to invoke a conflict in morality behind the plot, possibly along the lives of the allure of other people’s lives or maybe even the need to stay out of them. Despite such a theatrical philosophy, the absence of accountability—along with its execution—is sadly too questionable to ignore.
“The Voyeurs” is able to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
