What Is True And Untrue In The Netflix Series The Watcher
The Watcher is a limited, seven-episode series streaming on Netflix, and yes, it is based on a true story, experienced by Derek and Maria Broaddus in 2014.
The Netflix official synopsis of the show is, “Ominous letters. Strange neighbors. Sinister threats. A family moves into their suburban dream home, only to discover they’ve inherited a nightmare.”
The story is about a young family who move from New York City to a beautiful home in suburban New Jersey. Once they are in their dream home, the start receiving threatening letters signed by "The Watcher".
The series is filled with an impressive all star cast. The couple (names changed to Nora and Dean Brannock), are played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. Mia Farrow appears as a creepy neighbor. Jennifer Coolidge is the realtor. Richard Kind, Margo Martindale, Michael Nouri, Noma Dumezweni, and Terry Kinney round out the cast.
The series was made by Ryan Murphy, and it has some creepy American Horror Story vibes, and some Amityville Horror feels. Some of the story really did happen, while other parts were added in.
8 The Family Received Letters From 'The Watcher' - True
The address of The Watcher house is real, 657 Boulevard in Westfield, NJ, although the series did use the wrong zip code. The Brannock family was a made up name, but the letters were not. They received creepy letters from someone claiming to be watching the house. They knew intimate details about what went on when the family was inside the house.
A line in one of the letters read, “Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them to me.”
The letter writer also knows things about the house itself, making people believe it was either someone who had previously lived there or a neighbor.
7 Pearl And Jasper Were Based On Real People - True
When the Brannocks move in, they meet their creepy brother and sister neighbors, Pearl and Jasper. Jasper pops up inside their house without warning, and scares the entire family. Their first meeting with him was when they found him inside their dumbwaiter. Dean pulls him out and proceeds to throw him on the lawn. His sister Pearl is always there defending his actions.
Pearl and Jasper are based on real life siblings and neighbors, Abby and Michael Langford. Michael was schizophrenic, and the real family suspected him of writing the letters, but there was never any proof. And he was never found in the dumbwaiter.
6 The Family Actually Lived In The House - Untrue
In the series, Nora and Dean move into the house with their children. They are already living at 657 Boulevard when the letters arrive.They also renovate the house while living there.
The Broadduses never really inhabited the house. They were renovating before living there. The "watcher" even writes about it in one of his letters, “657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in.”
5 The Couple Had A Suspicious Realtor - Untrue
While the Broadduses used a realtor to buy the house in Westfield, the Jennifer Coolidge character, Karen Calhoun was made up. She was never friends with Naomi Watts' character, Nora.
The family in the series suspect the realtor of trying to scare them to get them to sell the house so that she could buy it. She eventually owns the house, where she is terrorized and leaves. None of that actually happened to the Broadduses.
4 Mitch And Mo Lived Next Door - True And Untrue
In The Watcher, Mitch and Mo sat on lawn chairs and wore matching tracksuits, and did not like their new neighbors at 657 Boulevard. The family were constantly fighting with the couple, and they were told that Mitch and Mo were part of a blood-sucking cult that sacrificed babies.
A house painter did report strange neighbors who sat in lawn chairs. They sat oddly close to 657 and always faced the house. But no cult.
3 Theodora The Private Investigator - Untrue
The Broadduses did go to the police with the letters, just like the series and did not get much help from them. They hired private investigators, but Theodora was made up. The whole story about her cancer, her friendship with the couple, and her deathbed false confession were all fiction. Too bad - she had great style.
2 A Man Murdered His Family In The House - True And Untrue
In the series, Derek discovers that a man named John Graff murdered his mother, wife and children in the same house years earlier. He disappeared without a trace and was never caught. Derek suspects that he may be the "watcher".
The murders were real, and they did happen in the same town of Westfield, NJ. They used the story of John List, who killed his family and disappeared for 18 years. He moved to Virginia and remarried. But John List was caught, after his case appeared on America's Most Wanted.
Same town, different house.
1 The Watcher Was Never Caught - True
In both the series and real life, they never caught the letter-writer. The police did get DNA evidence that whoever sent the envelope was a woman, but nothing else.
The Broaddeses sold the house at a $400K loss because they were honest about what had happened, so buyers were afraid.
The investigation is not active but not closed, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
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