It's challenging to fully comprehend from a male gaze the pervasive feeling experienced by every woman. the anxiety and paranoia of being observed. When you consider that you're in a strange country, unable to communicate in the language, or totally lost in the environment, the isolation and loneliness seem to consume you. It is therefore even more unsettling and terrifying for the protagonist to have his paranoia confirmed.With her husband Francis ( ), who has been given a marketing position, Julia (Maika Monroe) relocates to Bucharest. Francis' fluency in the language comes from his mother, whereas Julia's lack of fluency results in a sense of existential ennui in her that is made worse by her failed acting career. They settle in an apartment complex with a sizable picture window. She can't sleep that night, so she watches the rain heavily falling outside that window and realizes a man is watching her from the building across the street. Julia tries to learn the language while getting acquainted with the city in an effort to get rid of her boredom while her husband puts in long hours. She always has the unsettling feeling that she is being followed, though, which makes her hackles stand up as she walks around the city. Additionally, a few unrelated things happen, which disturb Julia. First, there was the murder of a woman in a nearby apartment building. One evening, Julia and Francis were returning from a walk when they noticed a group of people gathered in front of an ambulance, with one man staring at the group in awe. Julia later learns that the woman was murdered from the news, and her fear is increased when, during a dinner conversation with Francis' colleagues, she finds out that the woman's head was severed and that it was connected to "other attacks.". The following day, Julia conducts a quick internet search and learns about "The Spider," a serial killer who has been beheading young women. According to a woman who was one of the victims of the attack two days prior, the assailant broke into her home in the middle of the night, covered her face with a pillow, and then placed a knife across her throat. However, he had halted the act and was now sitting next to her, watching. She thought he had been sitting for a very long time. One day while out and about in the city, Julia feels the fear of being followed again. In an effort to hide from him, she goes to a movie theater to watch Charade, a 1963 film by Stanley Donen. She notices the man has occupied the seat directly behind her as she settles in to watch the film in the theater. She leaves the theater and enters the closest supermarket in a clear state of panic. She manages to give the man the slip after realizing he hadn't given up and hides behind the service doorway in an effort to get a glimpse of his face. She apologizes and leaves through the back door after being discovered by a store employee. Julia is stressed out by the experience when Francis gets home that night. They take her to the grocery store to view the security footage in order to comfort her. Despite Francis's skepticism regarding Julia's claims that the man has been stalking her, she is able to recognize the man from the security footage and take a photo of him. Irina, Julia's neighbor, gives her a sense of security and kinship. Irina's ex-boyfriend, Cristian, knocks on the door one night as they are enjoying a drink. Irina makes him leave by standing her ground. Julia is also shown the drawer where she keeps the pistol Cristian gave her as a gift for protection. Later that evening, as Julia makes her way home, she notices the man watching her once more through the window. She waves suspiciously at him, and to her horror, he waves back. Julia tells Francis what happened and makes the decision to call the police as he arrives. She believes the man watching her is the same man who had been following her, and Francis and the policeman both give her a puzzled look. She even displayed the photograph she had taken from the CCTV video. Francis follows the policeman as he visits the neighboring building to speak with the man. When they discover that the man is Daniel Webber (played by Burn Gorman), Francis is still unconvinced by her fears and thinks that she is being overly paranoid.
A few days later, Julia follows Daniel through the city before finding him at The Museum, a strip club. Irina, who works there, greets her when she arrives and tells her more about the place. Daniel is revealed to be a sweeper employed by the strip club, but Irina is unable to recall him because she frequently encounters men sporting the same stupid expression, which causes all of the faces to blur together over time. Julia hears noises coming from Irina's apartment later that night. She could clearly hear glass breaking and Irina's cries for help because the walls separating their apartments are so thin. After repeatedly knocking on Julia's door and getting no response, Julia persuades her neighbors to assist her in opening it. When they are finally successful, she discovers the apartment to be empty and one of her neighbor's cats perched atop the dressing table, which is thought to have knocked over the lamp and caused the commotion Julia had heard. Julia's fears are dismissed by Francis, who grows impatient with her. She is also told that "The Spider," a serial killer, has been caught, according to him.
Irina's ex-boyfriend Cristian meets Julia the following day. He worries because they were supposed to meet up after Irina left for work when Julia informs him that she never got back home. She asks Cristian to go with her to the nearby building so she can confront Daniel. No one answers when Cristian knocks on his apartment's door. After Cristian leaves, Julia musters the courage to knock on the door by herself, but an unknown elderly man answers. Daniel and a police officer visit Julia later that evening after Francis has gone home. Daniel had accused Julia of stalking him. When Julia and Daniel have finished explaining, they reluctantly shake hands as the officer writes this incident off as a miscommunication.
After accompanying Francis to a company party, Julia uses her limited Romanian language skills to deduce that Francis and his coworkers are making fun of her and her fears. Francis then uses this information to become more at ease with his new colleagues. She leaves the party and boards the subway feeling disheartened, indignant, and ultimately resigned to the gaslighting she has been subjected to these past few weeks. Daniel was seated further away, but the car was almost completely empty. He approaches her and tries to justify his voyeurism by claiming that he is so lonely from taking care of his sick father that it is the most monotonous job he has ever had. If it weren't for his shopping bag and what appears to be the outline of a severed head, she might not have believed him. She quickly exits the train, makes her way to her apartment, and begins packing her bags in preparation for an immediate departure from this city. Irina's apartment, however, is filled with the sound of music.She decides to look into it because she can't help but be curious. When she enters the apartment, she discovers Irina's headless body leaning against a chair. Daniel smothers her with the plastic bag he has been carrying before she has a chance to scream, rendering her unconscious. When she awakens, she discovers Daniel's silhouette watching over her. Daniel describes how he murdered Irina while subtly revealing himself to be "The Spider." He also admits that he and Irina were hiding in the closet when Julia and the landlady entered a few days prior. Julia struggles to scream as Francis tries to enter their apartment, but Daniel quickly cuts her throat with the knife. She tries to crawl to the coffee table where Irina keeps her gun but stops as blood pours from her neck. Daniel squats down and keeps an eye on her as she passes out. Francis calls Julia on her cellphone when she enters her apartment and can't find her. He steps outside to the hallway after hearing the ringtone from Irina's apartment and observes Daniel leaving. The two lock eyes, but Daniel is shot multiple times in the back before Francis can react. Julia, who has managed to find the gun and kill him, is the last thing Daniel sees before twisting and falling to the ground. Before the movie cuts to black, Julia, dressed in blood, looks at Francis sternly as he approaches the bloody scene and is almost heard to say, "I told you so.".
Comments
Post a Comment