A stylish thriller that recalls David Fincher's SEVEN, THE WATCHER is set in the urban landscape of modern Chicago. The story follows Los Angeles transplant Joel Campbell (James Spader), an ex-police detective who has relocated to Chicago in order to escape his past. It appears that a dangerous serial killer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), has formed a special emotional attachment to Campbell, luring him to Chicago in order to continue their deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Each game commences when Griffin sends Campbell a picture of a young girl, giving Campbell 24 hours to track her down before she's murdered. After three tragic failures, the stakes are upped when Griffin kidnaps Campbell's beautiful psychiatrist, Polly (Marisa Tomei), mimicking an earlier event that drove Campbell to Chicago in the first place.

THE WATCHER is a commentary on modern society's effect on people: making them crudely unable to notice the peripheral people in their daily lives. First-time director Joe Charbanic shoots his film like a music video, using elliptical editing, slow motion, and a postindustrial soundtrack that greatly reflects the Chicago music scene. As the tortured detective, Spader possesses an internal fire that gradually builds in intensity as the film progresses.