Neighborhood Watch (2025) - Film Review

      Neighborhood Watch, 2025.

      Directed by Duncan Skiles.

      Starring Jack Quaid, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Åkerman, Krishna Sistla Ward, Cecile Cubiló, Nicole Cyrille, Harrison Stone, Jim Klock, Derrick Goodman Jr., Charles Arthur Berg, Creek Wilson, Visionz2turnt, Jonathan Fuller, Curtis Lyons, Leslie Sides, Melanie Jeffcoat, Griffin Hood, and Billy Culbertson.

      SYNOPSIS:

      A mentally ill young man believes he has witnessed an abduction, but when the police refuse to take him seriously, he turns to his next-door neighbor—a disgruntled, retired security guard—for help in locating the missing woman.

      Director Duncan Skiles's Neighborhood Watch contains elements that indicate a thoughtful approach to discussions about mental illness. However, it also risks trivializing serious subjects through humor and relies on a conventional portrayal of internal dialogue that seems more exploitative than it is an accurate representation of the auditory hallucinations and anxiety often connected to trauma. Written by debut screenwriter Sean Farley, the film reflects some rough edges and questionable execution.

      Fortunately, the chemistry between a disheveled Jack Quaid and the sarcastically irritable Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who play mismatched neighbors, helps elevate the material. They team up to search for a woman Simon (Jack Quaid) believes he saw being forced into a vehicle. The issue is that Simon struggles with numerous mental health issues, impacting his ability to present himself well, especially in high-pressure situations like job interviews—his anxiety results in incoherent speech, leading law enforcement to dismiss his concerned calls. His troubles also stem from his complicated relationship with his father, and he currently lives with his nursing student sister, Deedee (Malin Akerman).

      This sets up a compelling premise, especially relevant in today's America, where those deemed "not normal" face risks to their rights and are often dismissed, with mental illness frequently invalidating serious concerns. While the police do attempt to follow up on the license plate number Simon provides—which yields no connections to his vicinity—they end up feeling overconfident in disregarding the situation. It's understandable that the police must assess Simon's reliability given his circumstances, but exploring this dynamic in greater depth is somewhat missed in favor of comedic elements.

      Desperate for transportation and grappling with the trauma he observed, Simon implores his neighbor, Ed Deerman (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a retired campus security guard struggling with a sense of purpose, for assistance. Initially uninterested but eventually compelled to help out of empathy, Ed is unsure whether to trust Simon, suggesting he may have misread the license plate by confusing an S for a 5. The banter mostly comes off as patronizing toward Simon, which is disheartening given his mental health struggles. Even a subsequent DMV scene featuring Simon having a breakdown is accompanied by a generic and overly simplistic soundtrack that does little justice to the topic at hand.

      The silver lining is that Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performances manage to make their dynamic engaging, creating humor even amidst some of Ed’s lightly disparaging remarks, ultimately causing us to feel conflicted about laughing. Throughout the story, Ed’s character genuinely grows to feel compassion for Simon, yet much of Neighborhood Watch still feels miscalculated. However, the filmmakers wisely avoid diminishing Simon’s character with absurd twists that could render him unreliable. The goal of rescuing a woman remains clear, but overall, the film feels disorganized and amateurish, leaning on broad humor that only works partially due to its lead actors.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

      Robert Kojder is affiliated with the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He serves as the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd.