OBSERVANCE (2016) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

OBSERVANCE (2016) movie

Genre               |  Horror Thriller

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   82 minutes

Released         |   3 April 2016

cast

Lindsay Harris as Parker Woodhouse
Stephanie King as Tenneal

director

Joseph Sims-Dennett

writer

​Joseph Sims-Dennett
Josh Zammit

cinematographer

​Rodrigo Vidal-Dawson

music

​Adrian Sergovich
Haydn Walker

film editor

​Charles Ivory

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box office result

Worldwide             $ not available     ​ 

Australia                 $​​ not available

North America        $​ not available     

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the best dialogue

Recorded Voice: Stop Watching!

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OBSERVANCE (2016) IMAGES

OBSERVANCE (2016) STORY SYNOPSIS

​In the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, Parker reluctantly returns to work as a private investigator. Embarking on an unusual assignment to observe a woman from an abandoned apartment, Parker witnesses bizarre happenings surrounding her, unaware that the derelict building that he surveys her from has birthed a dark presence which slowly threatens to consume him.

OBSERVANCE (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 30 March 2016
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Australian Director Joseph Sims-Dennett’s Observance is an ambitious psychological thriller with a great lead performance from actor Lindsay Farris. The film is somewhat let down by a diversion into the supernatural that will frustrate some viewers as the film’s plot is overwhelmed by an erratic mix of genre tropes and excursions into the bizarre setting of the main character’s damaged psychology. Working from a story he co-wrote with Josh Zammit, Sims-Dennett deserves credit for his perseverance in getting this film made because, despite it’s dalliance with other-worldly subject matter, Observance feels like a very personal piece of movie-making. The close camera work, limited number of sets and restrained performances create an impression that Observance is more of a documentary than a feature film.

Observance is the tale of Parker (Lindsay Farris), a Private Investigator, whose marriage has broken down in the aftermath of his son’s death. While the film never spells out exactly what happened to his son, the result has left Parker bankrupt and needing to take any kind of job to make ends meet. The film’s opening scenes follow a young woman (Stephanie King) to her apartment in a non-descript street in part of a city "somewhere". (The setting has a deliberate vagueness that seems like it has something to do with improving the film’s commercial chances international film markets.)  Behind her, but at a distance, is Parker, watching. Soon after, the Investigator forces his way into the apartment across the street; the audience discovering that this run-down residence has been secured especially for this job by Parker’s employer (Brendan Cowell, who is only ever heard on the end of the telephone). This first part of the film moves slowly, but deliberately and there’s a sense of oppression and tension that filters into the story. At various stages, Lindsay Farris looks like he’s actually physically distressed. (The film’s production notes reveal that Sims-Dennett and the cast & crew undertook principal photography during the Summer of 2013 in Sydney, during an extended heat wave that saw the mercury push well beyond normal levels.) Despite the discomfort it appears to have caused, it has done no harm in adding to the intensity created in the film’s first half.

Where Observance starts to unravel is in its use of supernatural symbolism as the cause of Parker’s degeneration into madness. The longer he watches through his camera and listens through the devices he has pointed at the young woman’s apartment, the more paranoid he becomes. Much like Gene Hackman in the classic Francis Ford Coppola film The Conversation, Parker catches snippets of conversations and sees pieces of exchanges between the young woman, Tenneal, and her fiance Bret (Tom O’Sullivan) that alarm him and question his employer about what is really going on. With such a strong premise founded in real paranoia, Sims-Dennett makes an interesting choice to move the story into the supernatural. It’s visually effective and there are some beautiful shots of ‘the dark sea’, a place where Parker’s subconscious intertwines with whatever it is that has started to physically and psychologically overwhelm him the longer he stays in the abandoned apartment watching Tenneal. There’s a definite argument to be made that a stronger, more traditional cinematic plot focussing on the immediate danger to Tenneal could have made Observance a better film without the need to introduce ‘horror’ tropes into the story.

From a technical viewpoint, Observance is a well made movie and Joseph Sims-Dennett demonstrates a real talent for keeping his performers focussed and getting the shots he needs with great economy. The film's obvious budget limitations work in its favour. Besides a limited number of outdoors shots, events are confined to the abandoned apartment that Parker operates from and Tenneal’s apartment directly across the street. Cinematographer Rodrigo Vidal Dawson does a good job of capturing Parker’s mental degeneration visually the further the story progresses. Dawson uses a lot of non-traditional camera angles and the viewer feels more and more removed from Parker the longer he stays in the apartment. As mentioned, Lindsay Farris is great as Parker and is well supported by Stephanie King as Tenneal. Despite never appearing on screen, Brendan Cowell is extremely effective as the disembodied voice of the employer. There is a lot to recommend Observance, but as the film progresses, it feels as though the story becomes impenetrable, as the supernatural elements become more frequent with no apparent underlying purpose. Viewers happy to indulge in some post-viewing reflection may find something of value in having seen the film, but others may be left frustrated by a plot that swerves a little too far into nihilism.

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