Borrowing a page from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Roman Polanski’s entire body of work, director/co-writer Joseph Sims-Dennett takes a bit more of a low key approach to the claustrophobic psychological thriller. Using Hitchcock’s concept of voyeurism as a spring board for an unsettling descent into madness, Sims-Dennett poses the question: who is watching who?

Parker already clings to the edge of mental and emotional stability, still in the grip of grief after the loss of his young son.  His marriage is on the rocks, and the medical bills have put him deep in the red.  Facing bankruptcy, Parker returns to his job as a private investigator and his latest assignment has him holed up in a derelict building as he’s tasked with observing a woman across the street. The longer Parker remains cooped up in the dark apartment, the more Parker’s setting seems to get to him.  He begins suffering hallucinations, nightmares, and items that seem to get misplaced. Yet, is it all in his mind or is there something greater at play going on across the street?

Rodrigo Vidal-Dawson’s cinematography offers a tragic, dreamlike quality that feels more luxurious than the film’s true budget.

On a technical and atmospheric level, Sims-Dennett delivers a beautifully haunting film.  Rodrigo Vidal-Dawson’s cinematography offers a tragic, dreamlike quality that feels more luxurious than the film’s true budget. The wide-angled shots of Parker’s boarded-up space in conjunction with the slow focus of off-putting details, like a jar of black liquid in a corner that mysteriously fills the longer Parker is there, creates an unsettling tone.  The effective sound design further compounds the disturbing atmosphere.  Mostly a quiet film, moments of high pitched or loud sound keeps things off-kilter and creepy.

For all that the imagery and style get right, the narrative proves the weak link.  Psychological thrillers explore the mental and emotional instability of its characters, and while both Parker and the woman he’s observing display some form of mental and emotional trauma, the film never really explores these characters.  It’s difficult to grab hold of Parker’s journey because there’s no actual sense of who Parker is beyond his strange experiences inside the derelict flat.  Even less is known about the woman he’s being paid to observe.  What character information is revealed comes from parceled out clues, usually by way of fevered dream imagery.  It’s intentionally ambiguous, because Sims-Dennett wants to toe the line between true psychological horror and actual horror.  Parker might be losing his grip on reality, or might be victim to the strange conspiracy that’s taking place across the street.  Sims-Dennett makes things a bit too cryptic for an effective mystery, let alone psychological thriller.

Sims-Dennett has a very strong visual style and sense of tone, and with a more established narrative this could’ve been something truly special.

It’s a beautiful film with very creepy moments, an unsettling tone, and an interesting idea.  Sims-Dennett nails the atmosphere and style of a psychological horror, and its classic influences of Hitchcock and Polanski are obvious.  Yet Sims-Dennett withholds too much information from its viewer, and there’s nothing of substance to grab ahold of aside from the eerie atmosphere. Ambiguity in narratives works only if there’s enough clues laid out for the viewer to draw their own conclusions, but this narrative isn’t developed enough.  Sims-Dennett has a very strong visual style and sense of tone, and with a more established narrative this could’ve been something truly special.

Observance will be available on Vimeo, DVD, and Blu-ray on August 2, 2016 before releasing on most other VOD outlets on October, 11, 2016.observance-poster-600x857