“Julie, there’s smoke in the kitchen.”
I’ll Be Watching is a slow burn of a thriller which uses its sense of isolation and its tragedy to its benefit, heightening our senses as one woman faces the ultimate in fear: being targeted in her own home as, one by one, the things she loves are peeled from her.
It begins with utter disappointment as Julie learns that Marcus, her husband, is going to be delayed and not make it to her all important art show. So much for her big day! Thankfully, her sister is there and encourages her to stick around and enjoy the limelight.
What follows is a tragedy as Julie’s sister is brutally murdered when she does an errand for her in her own house. Give Pepper some medication. Got it. Easy peasy. Cat and pills. However, Rebecca enters into her own murder as the masked assailant strangles Rebecca and leaves her for dead, leaving Julie in a fragmented mindset in the months which follows the tragedy.
And time is only making it worse. She feels grief and responsibility for her sister’s death and, as is often the case, starts self-medicating her anxiety and guilt with alcohol and pain medication.
Julie can’t continue down this path. Few can. And so, her tech genius husband moves them to the country, trying to find a path forward for her to thrive in. A new environment is good, after all. Even the therapist approves. But the good country air is going to be most deadly as Julie finds herself in H.E.R.A’s care.
What’s H.E.R.A, you ask? A top of the line home security system that Marcus has been spending all his time working on and perfecting. Like HAL before it, this top-of-the-line program takes its orders seriously, focusing on the protection of its creator.
This is the home-invasion territory of I’ll Be Watching, a nail-biting thriller that doesn’t disappoint thanks to the nail-biting paranoia of the new technology introduced here to keep watch of the house: H.E.R.A is a memorable force to tangle with. 
Paranoia reigns supreme as Julie, left alone with only her cat, Pepper, and the security system in the country. But its the digital wilderness that she ought to be wary of as the system is soon hacked by an aggressive burglar who wants nothing more but to do her harm.
And she’s there alone. Or is she?
Everyone - and I do mean everyone - is telling her to RELAX and, complete with circus music playing, it seems the game of psychological torture and gaslighting is on! Which makes this thriller stellar. Everything becomes a threat.
Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired nail-biting home invasion thriller I’ll Be Watching, starring Eliza Taylor (Neighbours, The 100)., Bob Morley (“Love Me”), veteran actor David Keith (Daredevil, An Officer and a Gentlemen), Seth Michaels (Red Notice), Bryan Batt (“Mad Men”), and Hannah Fierman (V/H/S). Complete with a twist ending, this one comes across as a low budget surprise.
Directed by Erik Bernard, I’ll Be Watching will be released on digital May 2.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 90 mins
Director: Erik Bernard
Writer: Elisa Manzini; Sara Sometti Michaels
Cast: Eliza Taylor; Bob Morley; Seth Michaels
Genre: Thriller | Horror
Tagline: Her Worst Nightmare is in Her House
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Uncork'd Entertainment
Official Site:
Release Date: May 2, 2023
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: After Julie’s sister was murdered, she and her tech genius husband move to the country, and he installs a top-notch security system that he developed. When he leaves on a work trip, she gets trapped inside and is convinced that the killer is having fun playing a sick game of psychological torture, before killing her like her sister.
