Based on a true story, Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher, starring Naomi Watts (King Kong, The Impossible) and Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man, Parker), overtook Netflix’s daily chart of most-watched TV series on its debut on October 14. The Watcher pushed Murphy’s other show, Dahmer–Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story to the number two spot, according to Deadline.
The Watcher is an American horror story true-crime adaptation. The story focuses on the owners of a New Jersey home in the suburbs who were stalked and threatened by an anonymous writer who sends them letters and calls themselves “The Watcher.” The television adaptation includes a plethora of the elements that forged the fascinating tale of the real-life event, including but not limited to The Watcher’s haunting notes. In addition, the adaptation also includes new characters and terrors down the line that appears to be entirely Murphy’s creation.
657 Boulevard
The Watcher also stars Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie, A Cinderella Story), Margo Martindale (August: Osage County, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), and Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby, Crimes and Misdemeanors)–this is the kind of cast that Murphy usually nets for his high-profile projects, according to Screen Rant. Watts and Cannavale play Nora and Dean Brannock. The Brannocks are the owners of a house with the address 657 Boulevard, who are being terrorized by letters they’re receiving from The Watcher. This home was supposed to be their dream home, but it was a nightmare for them.
After falling in love with the house on 657 Boulevard both online and in person at its open house, Dean and Nora Brannock decide to move with their children, Carter and Ellie, to Westfield, New Jersey. The first episode sheds light on the Brannock’s money problem, leaving the message clear: They cannot afford to buy the house and they’re putting a lot on the line financially to buy it, according to TV Line.
“657 Boulevard is my job now, my life my obsession. And now you are, too, Brannock family. Welcome to the product of your greed… You know I will be watching,” wrote The Watcher to the Brannock family.
The Watcher is currently streaming on Netflix.