In ‘The Voyeurs’, Sydney Sweeny leads us on a Sexy Solacious slide into obsession
The Voyeurs is a 2021 Amazon Original thriller directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeny, Justice Smith. Ben Hardy and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. The premise is simple – a young couple, Pippa (Sydney Sweeny) and Thomas (Justice Smith) move into an apartment to take their relationship to the next level. They are very much in love and still in the ‘honeymoon’, period of their relationship. The soon realise they have a perfect unobstructed view into their neighbour’s apartment, who have a much more exciting life than theirs. Pippa and Thomas become increasingly obsessed with this couple and take voyeurism to new unhealthy levels.
Director Michael Mohan attempts to weave a modern timely story about a human interest as old as time itself. People have always loved to watch other people, it’s a natural evolution of gossip. We are always interested in other people’s dirty laundry, being able to spy on their most interment moments without being seen of course. It’s a testament to the rise in popularity of reality tv, which is by far the most watched genre of entertainment on television right now. Michael taps into this by making the apartment window a big screen television where our couple watch the show and get sucked into the next episode
The story moves along at a good pace, with the relationships and backgrounds established quickly. The eyes and sight are central themes maintained throughout the film, with Pippa working in an optician and Seb (Ben Hardy) playing a photographer. Eyes remain the key to the soul and every look from Pippa hides a thousand desires. Seb is the villain of the piece as he uses his photography expertise to seduce and take advantage of young models behind his wife’s back. He is intense, irresistible and a master manipulator.
In terms of performance, the movie belongs to Sydney Sweeny. She plays an innocent young lady torn between two worlds perfectly. On the one hand, she wants to settle down in her newfound happiness with her plain but dependable boyfriend Thomas. On the other hand, she can’t help but be fascinated by the exciting and mysterious world presented by Seb. Sydney combines a sweet innocence with a sultry curious seductiveness that really sizzles on screen
See the official Trailer for the Voyeurs here
The Voyeurs explores some existing questions in an old school manner. Rather than result to social media apps or technology, the spying here is all very traditional. When you look in on someone’s in real life, there is always the chance of them looking back at you, which adds a different kind of thrill when compared to watching someone at home or on a computer screen. The soundtrack feels young, modern without presenting anything that standouts particularly. The sound design perfectly complements the action during the sexual moments, of which there are quite a few. Every slow laboured breath is clear and lends to the tension.
The Voyeurs doesn’t aim to be complex or weave a complicated tale. It’s a simple story designed to engage and titillate while asking a very simple question: Just because we can see, is it ok to watch? We are obsessed with watching and the more sordid and disgusted we are the harder we find it to look away. But when what we see becomes dangerous or tragic, do we get involved or simply look away? The film does not re write the rules when it comes to thrillers, but it is does provide us with a solacious sexy slide into obsession and might just be perfect thrill for your naughty weekend viewing
The Voyeurs launches on Prime Video on September 10th
