The Neighbors Are Watching is a movie that simply makes a case in favor of nosy neighbors. Somebody felt bad about all the bashing that neighbors of the world, and their involvement in each other’s lives seemed to be getting worse, so they made a movie called The Neighbors Are Watching. Frankly, the title is deceptive because it seems to indicate that the neighbors are the culprits, and thereby, that was the hook to pull in the audience. But then, it proceeds to show why neighbors are the best thing that can ever happen to you, and we buy the narrative, despite the fact that they all continue to act problematically. Maybe Lifetime will make another movie showing the more popular side of the coin. Until then, this is a recap and ending of it.
Spoiler Alert
How is Amy’s new life in the suburbs?
Amy is looking for a fresh start when she moves to her new place. Previously, she had tried to leave an abusive marriage, and that had resulted in her accidentally killing her husband. The jury had found her not guilty, but it was such a great incident that it was impossible for Amy to live a normal life there. That is why she took a new job at a school under her maiden name and moved to the suburbs, where she was seeking a fresh start. The neighbors are curious about her previous life, and Amy answers them while expressing that there are details that she does not wish to discuss.
On her first day itself, Betsy, her neighbor, makes friends with Amy, and she receives a warm welcome from everyone. Soon enough, Amy is a well-liked person in the community, and it only gets better when there is a new neighbor, Henry, whom Betsy gets a crush on. They start dating almost immediately, and the going is good until a few months, when everything starts falling apart. Henry has to leave town for a few days, and he tells Amy that all he wants is for her to be happy. It feels like an odd thing to say and is a deliberate sign that promises something upon return. Amy doesn’t hear from Henry while he is away, and when she spots him coming back home at night, there is another woman with him. Amy thinks that Henry may be cheating on her, and she confronts him in front of everyone, only for him to say that the woman was his sister. Amy is worried that she may have ruined things with her impulsivity, but that night, she once again sees Henry with the woman, and it is clear that they are not siblings. She confronts him again, and this time, Henry is far from nice. He tells her that he is aware of her past and will reveal it to the whole neighborhood if she doesn’t stop coming after him. A scared Amy knows that she may not be able to explain herself to everyone and might also lose the life she has so painstakingly built, so she just admits that it is her fault and decides to stay away from Henry. But somehow, the school board comes to know about Amy’s past, and she is immediately dismissed.
Amy’s life is getting tougher since she has started coming across to everyone as the crazy ex-girlfriend. One night, Amy sees a woman running out of Henry’s house, and he has to drag her back. Amy immediately calls the police, but they find nothing in Henry’s house, so it looks like Amy is just someone with a vendetta against Henry for breaking up with her. Slowly, Amy’s life starts falling apart, and she is no longer invited to the neighbors’ gatherings as she once was. So far, Henry is looking innocent, and he is as much a part of the community as Amy, so he is included over her.
Why Was Henry Trying To Harm Amy?
Amy had been finding newspaper clippings of her past case and, in general, felt unsafe in her house. Under the tremendous pressure of the circumstances, the only thing that Amy was able to do was keep a watch on Henry to make sure that she was not crazy. One day, she saw him take out a rolled rug, and she thought that there must be a dead body in it. But this time, Amy doesn’t call the police. She breaks into his house and goes through his laptop, where she finds a website he had been using for escorts. However, Betsy had seen her break into Henry’s house, and she called the police, who ended up arresting Amy. Henry’s rug is heavy and wet, but there is no dead body in it. He also doesn’t press charges against Amy, but she knows that something is wrong. She goes to the website she saw on his computer and asks for the escort she had seen running out of his house. When that woman meets Amy, she tells her that Henry has made some odd requests. The first time he asked for her, they had slept separately, and it was only the next time that they had been together. The third time, Henry had asked her to run out of the house so that he could roughhouse her back in. That had all been part of his act, so that he could destroy Amy’s credibility bit by bit. She also comes to know from the woman that Henry’s real identity is something entirely different. He shares the same last name as Amy’s ex-husband, and that finally makes her realize what must have been going on. She goes to the police and asks them to look into Henry, and after some desperate pleas, the officer agrees.
At the end of The Neighbors Are Watching, Amy knows that Henry will come into her house. She refuses to take any bait thrown by him and is waiting. As she expects, he does break into her house and tell her that he is Amy’s dead husband’s brother. He hated her for killing him and wanted revenge by destroying the life she had built for herself, which is why he manipulated her this way. Henry would have killed Amy, but just then, Betsy knocks him out from behind. She had seen him enter Amy’s house and understood that something was wrong. Henry is arrested by the police, and the neighbors finally realize their mistake and quickly apologize to Amy for not believing her sooner. The life Amy had fought for is finally back to her, and we believe she will be able to start it over again and might even meet someone who will truly love her for who she really is.
Final Thoughts
Like most Lifetime movies, The Neighbors Are Watching was also a decent watch. It is admirable how Lifetime has been so consistent with hitting the decent mark and not letting there be any variation in the quality of its content, whether high or low. We always know exactly what we will get from this platform.
