‘The Watchman’ is a thriller set in one location, on one night and seen through the eyes of one man.
Carl is in his 40s and works alone in a characterless CCTV control room. We meet him on what seems like an ordinary night shift – until his frustrations with the local police force his hand. With the help of his taxi driver friend Lee, Carl decides to use the all-seeing eye of CCTV to disrupt the activities of a gang of local drug dealers. But the plan backfires, setting in motion a chain of events that puts both their lives in danger.
As the night unfolds we learn how Carl has gradually become enticed by the peculiar world he inhabits and, through his interactions with his family, it begins to emerge that he has lost himself somewhere between the real world and the world of CCTV.
Carl’s story reminds us that when the watchmen lose sight of “the rules”, the consequences can be terrifying.
