Netflix has unveiled an unconventional teaser for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming limited series The Watcher. It’s also the streamer’s first official confirmation of the series.
The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge hosts a three-minute “open house” video as realtor Karen Calhoun.
“Hi, I’m Karen Calhoun from Darren Dunn Realty,” says Coolidge at the opening of the teaser. “This is 657 Boulevard,” she continues, “and this is my listing.”
“Are you ready?, your dream home awaits,” she adds.
The teaser could pass for a legit open house tour, except for a couple of things that are a bit telling — such as when Karen suggests you could fit an entire body in the home’s dumbwaiter, and when she fears opening the bedroom curtains because of “weird neighbors” who might be peering in.
Co-created by Murphy and Ian Brennan (Ratched, The Politician), the series, starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, is inspired by the infamous “Watcher” house in New Jersey. A couple bought the 1905 Dutch colonial revival in 2014 for nearly $1.4 million. They were forced to abandon their new home over chilling letters from “The Watcher,” who claimed to have been “watching” the house for decades. “I am the Watcher. Bring me your young blood,” one of the notes read.
The family put the house back on the market. It didn’t sell, and they rented it out. In 2017, the renter also received a sinister letter from “The Watcher,” too threatening their life. The house ultimately sold in 2019 for $959,000. The identity of “The Watcher” remains a mystery.
Per the official logline: Dean (Cannavale) and Nora Brannock (Watts) just purchased their dream home in the idyllic suburb of Westfield, New Jersey, but after putting all of their savings into closing the deal they soon realize the neighborhood is less than welcoming. There’s a kooky older woman named Pearl (Mia Farrow) and her brother Jasper (Terry Kinney), who sneaks into the Brannock’s house and hides in their dumbwaiter. There’s Karen (Jennifer Coolidge), the realtor and an old acquaintance of Nora’s, who makes them feel like they don’t really belong, and nosy neighbors Mitch (Richard Kind) and Mo (Margo Martindale), who don’t seem to understand property lines. Their icy welcome quickly turns into a full-blown living hell when ominous letters from someone calling themself “The Watcher” start arriving, terrorizing the Brannocks to their breaking point as the neighborhood’s sinister secrets come spilling out.
Cast also includes Noma Dumezweni, Christopher McDonald, Michael Nouri, Isabel Gravitt, Henry Hunter Hall and Luke David Blumm.
Murphy and Brennan executive produce with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Bryan Unkeless, Eric Newman, Paris Barclay, Naomi Watts, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost and Scoop Wasserstein.
The Watcher is slated to premiere this fall on Netflix.
Check out the teaser above.
