You never know who’s really watching. In Italian found footage flick Watchful Eyes, a group confined to a school discovers secrets hidden within the walls. As they point fingers at each other, they succumb to an evil presence. But is that really all there is to fear — or is something else going on in the background?
Sebastian, a grieving man, takes a janitor job on a university campus. While monitoring students linked to a professor’s death, he uncovers a ghost story that may be more real than anyone believed.
Watchful Eyes, IMDB
Sebastian takes a job as a janitor at a local college. Part of his job is to watch over a group of students as they are kept on house arrest for their possible involvement in the death of a professor. They grow close, but soon begin to butt heads as the confinement gets to them mentally. They bide their time telling jokes and reciting ghost stories, but then the students start to disappear — just as they had talked about. The dimly lit hallways and constant surveillance are surely enough to make one mad, but this movie gives us something else to think about.
Watchful Eyes is exactly what you would expect it to be with all of the tropes of found footage movies tightly wrapped in to its 67-minute runtime. We meet Sebastian as he is introduced to his new job. Each student carries their own story, with one prompting the constant filming. The setting is prime for a haunting, and we definitely see things being strewn around on camera. And yes, you have jumpscares via pranks by the students along with some eerie, unexplained noises. On the surface, it’s nothing special.
But what Watchful Eyes does that separates itself from the hundreds of other found footage movies is its ending. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but the last few minutes puts the whole movie into another light. Sebastian is grieving and possibly seeing things. The students are being killed off. It seems like the outside world is pitted against them, avoiding every and any reason to give them more space or access to grounds outside of that particular wing. In the end, two truths can happen at the same time.
Watchful Eyes provides a few small additions to the subgenre by way of locale (Italy), character motives (students accused of murder), and ending (no spoilers!). While some may be over the found footage nonsense, Watchful Eyes tries to quell the boredom with little nuanced plot points that add a few points in the rewatchability category. Is Watchful Eyes groundbreaking? No. But it definitely does get to the point and twist the tropes unexpectedly.
Watchful Eyes is available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video or for free on FoundTV. For more information, visit the movie on Instagram and web.
