In today’s society, where people like to share every part of their lives on the internet, privacy has become a muddled concept written on the bottom of every app just to make the user and the company feel safe invading someone else’s world. Humanity has always been curious about knowing what is happening in other’s lives. It is one of the reasons why so many reality shows are made, because another thing we all are guilty of is envy.
Pippa (Sydney Sweeney) and Thomas (Justice Smith) are a young couple who have moved into their dream apartment in the city. They worked hard to get there. Pippa says she spent most of her young life buried deep in medical books to become an ophthalmologist. She has barely rebelled or done something out of her comfort zone. They decide to have a few years of rebellious adventures until they move on to the next stage of their relationship, and an opportunity presents itself to them. Pippa and Thomas notice the hunky perfect couple across the street presenting their hot and happening life through wide-open windows, and a sense of thrill takes place with equal amounts of arousal. They decide to become peeping toms when they find out the eccentric photographer husband, Seb (Ben Hardy), is cheating on his wife, Julia (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), with every model he shoots. What starts as fun soon turns into something dangerous. As Pippa and Thomas attempt to anonymously intercede into the couple’s lives, they unwittingly set in motion a chain of events that will lead to disaster.
Erotic thrillers are very rare these days because it is a genre that needs the best of both worlds. The Voyeurs come close to achieving that. One thing it does brilliantly is make sure to keep the audience guessing on what is to come next. Writer and director Michael Mohan sets the traps quite excitingly by playing a bit naive and childish at the beginning only to get more dramatic as the story moves. The conversations between Pippa and Thomas at the beginning feel like they are in a romantic comedy, giggling and playing to their innocence as a young couple. But soon the cracks in their relationship start to appear as Pippa begins to cross the line in an already dicey situation.
The Voyeurs play a well-balanced mind game, using Rear Window as its inspiration. The visuals of the movie stand out as Elisha Christian does an incredible job of capturing the characters’ mannerisms, especially their eyes, and how tantalizing the world looks. Christian Masini does an equally fantastic job with the editing. Especially with the transitions. The eroticism present in the movie isn’t just about viewing pleasure. It adds to the plot and explores themes of hidden desires, pleasure, un-satisfaction, and the need of what others have while ignoring what you have.
The Voyeurs is led by a fabulous performance from Sweeney. She plays Pippa to perfection, from her innocence to her curiosity and her desire to have a life like the couple across the street. She simmers in her character and every step she takes into the life of Seb and Julia is a step of no return. Smith plays a good supporting boyfriend to Sweeney’s Pippa, with a charming smile that soon fades away to take on more of a dramatic role. Bordizzo leaves her mark as Julia, with Hardy being the face that creates conflict between each character.
The world we live in presently is just a transparent sheet. Everything is there to be exploited, played, and manipulated. The Voyeurs takes on the subject and reminds you that just because someone is allegedly allowing you to look into their lives doesn’t mean it’s okay to watch. It is a story that stitches every trope of an erotic thriller while borrowing a few things from Hitchcock’s masterpiece Rear Window. With a phenomenal performance from Sweeney, The Voyeurs is a movie worth looking into.
