Eye Without A Face Review: A Modern Voyeur Film With An Idle Plot

Release date: August, 6, 2021
Running time: 95 minutes
Directed By: Ramin Niami
Starring: Dakota Shapiro (“The Affair”), Luke Cook (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”, “Katy Keene”), and Vlada Verevko (“Beauty and the Beast”)

Henry, an agoraphobic and anxious young man living in Los Angeles, hacks into the webcams of various selected young women who inhabit the city. He watches over them in their daily lives, seeing himself as their guardian angel. When his new charming roommate Eric, a Youtuber and struggling actor pushes him to get out into the real world, he unknowingly puts Henry in danger. And as Henry starts to suspect one of the women he watches, Laura, of being a killer, everything starts to spiral out of control.

Eye Without A Face has an interesting premise, with Henry shut in and watching a series of individuals that he has hacked into.  I liked his demeanor, depsite the inherently very creepy thing he is doing he did really consider these women / victims his friends.  He would sort of respect their privacy and try to not be as voyeuristic as he could have been.  And there is a ton of knowing irony in the film when Henry chastises his roommate for wanting to be more voyeuristic, going so far as to calling him a creep.  And the story of Eye Without A Face progresses as you would expect a shut in story to progress.  Henry rarely leaves his house, preferring instead to simply stay in and watch the cameras of the ladies he has taken over.  It is an interesting dynamic and one that I didn't quite love, but that did at least provide enough windows into the lives of others.  And I did like the actors in this film: the dynamic between Henry and his best friend / roommate Eric is fun to see, and I liked seeing Eric try to break Henry out of his shell.  

The film bills itself as a modern Rear Window and I can definitely see the resemblance.  The window into people's lives through their webcams is a clever one, as is the ability to observe them during their best and worst moments.  And, like the main character, I did like the film's restraint that was taken in the observation.  This premise could have provided an easy window into a more exploitative film, but Eye Without A Face lives true to its main character.  

However, the story of Eye Without A Face doesn't progress with any drive at the start.  The story kind of putters along at a leisurely pace without much purpose.  It eventually gets more sinister, and this part is more enjoyable, but it does feel like it takes a while to get there.  And although the film doesn't have many effects, the ones that are shown are hit or miss.  They are noticeable at times, but well hidden at others.  And the film tries to surprise its viewers in the end but it doesn't set it up well enough.  It is strange because the story pace makes me think that it could have sold this story, but the ending seemed to try to go for shock value.  And during the last sequence, the music had some odd sound effects that did not sync up with what was happening on screen, making for a slightly jumbled and confusing experience.

Eye Without A Face is a novel take on the voyeuristic film, with an incel main character that is more empathetic than I would have expected, and showcases some fresh young talent in the process.  However, the slow story and strange ending might cause some to tape up their webcams.

Rent it.

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Eye Without A Face is available digitally and on demand on August 6, 2021.  

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