When The Voyeurs' main characters Pippa (Sydney Sweeney) and her boyfriend Thomas (Justice Smith) move into a stunning, spacious loft in a hip downtown Montreal district, it seems too good to be true. They're starring in an erotic thriller, so of course, their new apartment is too good to be true. That's something Pippa and Thomas probably should have guessed when they notice that their attractive neighbors conveniently leave their large windows uncovered at all times so that Pippa and Thomas can spy on their every move.
At first, peering into the salacious lives of photographer Seb (Ben Hardy) and his ex-model wife Julia (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) is a fun game for Pippa and Thomas, and it even spices up their relationship a bit. But they soon get carried away with their clandestine activities, even sneaking into a Halloween costume party to set up a receiver so they can listen in on Seb and Julia's conversations. For Thomas, the experience eventually sours. Pippa, however, only becomes more engrossed, especially once Julia coincidentally shows up at where Pippa works.
The first two-thirds of The Voyeurs feels like a glossy soap opera, as Pippa and Thomas' relationship starts to deteriorate thanks to her growing obsession with their neighbors. Every time that Pippa swears she's going to back off, she gets herself in deeper, becoming fixated on "helping" Julia leave her arrogant, cheating husband -- even though Julia doesn't seem to need or want Pippa's help. Sweeney conveys Pippa's excitement and desperation as she's pulled further into the drama across the way, while Smith is stuck mostly in a reactive role.
There are brief glimpses of Thomas' work as a composer of TV commercial music, but writer-director Michael Mohan shows little of Thomas' internal life. Likewise, aside from a brief conversation after they move in, there's not much to Pippa and Thomas' relationship history. It's unclear what initially drew them together as a couple. Still, Mohan delivers slick images of very attractive people in various stages of undress. The Voyeurs wholeheartedly embraces the "erotic" part of its erotic thriller genre. When Julia visits Pippa at the eye doctor's office where she works, Mohan presents what must be the sexiest eye exam in cinema history.
"Are we bad people for watching this?" Thomas asks Pippa as they witness a particularly private moment among strangers, but The Voyeurs never goes beyond that basic sentiment in exploring its main characters' moral dilemma. As the movie continues, it becomes more lurid and unbelievable, and a third-act twist sends it into the realm of the completely absurd. At first, there's the possibility of investing in the relationship between Pippa and Thomas, but it soon becomes clear that Mohan doesn't care about emotional investment in his characters.
The most obvious influence on The Voyeurs is the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window, but Mohan's film is closer to trashy 1990s erotic thrillers like Sliver or Body of Evidence than to Hitchcock's masterpiece. There isn't much suspense to The Voyeurs for at least its first hour, as Pippa and Thomas observe only minor indiscretions across the way. Eventually, as Pippa gets lost in her obsession, even envisioning herself participating in Seb and Julia's most intimate interactions, the situation grows more dangerous. But Pippa makes such impulsive, selfish decisions that viewers may find her as frustrating as Thomas does.
Sweeney plays Pippa with a mix of sweetness and narcissism, but Pippa ultimately isn't a villain who deserves her comeuppance or a hapless victim. Thomas is such a wet blanket that when he and Pippa argue, it's almost a relief to get him out of the way. Smith does what he can with a limited character who's consistently overshadowed. While Seb and Julia remain at a distance in the movie's first half, they get more screen time as the story progresses. Hardy and Bordizzo effectively convey their slightly dangerous sexiness and it's easy to see why someone would want to watch these people.
Mohan maintains the high-toned soap opera style the entire time, but given the eventual twists and turns of the plot, The Voyeurs would have been more enjoyable if he had embraced the sleaze. All of the artsy touches, like the extreme close-ups of eyes, come off only as pretentious, rather than adding thematic weight. The substance of the movie is pure old-school late-night Cinemax, but the presentation remains refined and dull.
The Voyeurs premieres Friday, Sept. 10 on Amazon Prime.