TL;DR – Anchored by two solid character performances, it does make for an interesting if slow watch.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes and language that may cause distress.

Setting the Scene

Today, we are looking at a very odd film. It is a very slow burn; you can never be entirely sure as to what is going on, and it is filled with fascinating performances. It is the kind of film that will captivate some, while leaving others cold, and that is an interesting intersection to explore.

So, to set the scene, Simon (Jack Quaid) has spent a long time in and out of hospitals, which has made much of his life, including getting a job, difficult. It is hard to make connections when someone is yelling in your head and only you can hear them. When Simon sees a woman get kidnapped, he tries to report it to the police. But no one believes him because of his medical past, but there is one hope, his neighbour Ed Deerman (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who used to be the head of security of the local college. They are not the most convincing pair, but they may be this woman’s best hope, if she exists at all.   

Themes

One of the major themes in the film is how Simon’s schizophrenia impacts his life, but also the ways in which it affects how people see him. This does make a bit of a struggle engaging with the film because I don’t have the history to know if this is a sympathetic depiction of what it is like to live with these constant pressures. From my perspective, I do feel like Jack Quaid is giving a solid performance. It also helps the narrative that you can never be entirely sure if something happened or was a hallucination. A lot of Simon’s hallucinations stem from an obvious childhood trauma, and that does make the film difficult to watch at times.   

An Unlikely Pair

Unlikely pairs solving crimes is a mainstay of much of the crime fiction world. However, there is usually a zany character and the straight man. We don’t quite get that here; instead, we have the character who may or may not be seeing things and the man who still thinks he is an important campus cop. No one is anywhere close to likable at the start. But as the film progresses and we get more of Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, you can feel it start to coalesce together. Having Detective Glover (Cecile Cubiló) serve as the catalyst that propels their investigation was a good touch.   

Conclusion

In the end, do we recommend Neighborhood Watch? I think this is a film that will connect with people. It is not going to be for everyone, but that growing bond does help bring me along, and Jack Quaid & Jeffrey Dean Morgan are always a draw card in anything they work in. Have you watched Neighborhood Watch? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Neighborhood Watch, we would recommend Rebel Ridge to you because it also explores the power police have to hinder or help.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Neighborhood Watch
Directed by – Duncan Skiles
Written by – Sean Farley
Music by – Jojo Draven
Cinematography by – Luke McCoubrey
Edited by – Cody Joel
Production/Distribution Companies – Filmopoly, Redwire Pictures, RLJE Films & Sunrise Films
Starring – Jack Quaid, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cecile Cubiló, Malin Akerman, Jim Klock, Harrison Stone, Porsche Kemp, Billy Culbertson, Janet Decker, Meg Biddle Smith, Griffin Hood & Creek Wilson
Rating – United States: R