mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
. It premiered on October 13, 2022. It is loosely based on a 2018 article by Reeves Wiedeman for '' New York'' magazine's website, "The Cut." Despite being originally conceived as a miniseries, ''The Watcher'' was renewed for a second season in November 2022.
Premise
The series follows a married couple who, after moving into their dream home in a fictionalized version of
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,
Cast and characters
Main
*
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...
as Nora Brannock
* Bobby Cannavale as Dean Brannock
* Isabel Gravitt as Ellie Brannock
* Luke David Blumm as Carter Brannock
* Jennifer Coolidge as Karen Calhoun
*
Margo Martindale
Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' ...
as Maureen / Mo
*
Richard Kind
Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian, known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in ''Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), Andy in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2002 ...
as Mitch (season 1)
*
Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
as Pearl Winslow
*
Terry Kinney
Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as ...
Noma Dumezweni
Noma Dumezweni (born 28 July 1969) is a British actress. In 2006, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Ruth Younger in ''A Raisin in the Sun'' at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. In 2 ...
as Theodora Birch (season 1)
*
Joe Mantello
Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on Broadway productions of '' Wicked'', '' Take Me Out'', and ''Assassins'', having gained notoriety in the 1993 cast of ''Angels in America''.
Early l ...
as William "Bill" Webster / John Graff
* Henry Hunter Hall as Dakota
Recurring
*
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri (born December 9, 1945) is an American screen and stage actor. He is best known for his television roles, including Dr. Neil Roberts on ''The O.C.'', Phil Grey on ''Damages'', Caleb Cortlandt on '' All My Children'', Eli David in ...
as Roger Kaplan
* Danny Garcia as Steve
*
Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel (born October 3, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for his roles of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series ''Fringe'', Cotton Mather on WGN America's series '' Salem'', and Adrian Moore on the FX series ''Nip/Tuck''. He ...
as Andrew Pierce
* Susan Merson as Tammy
* Seth Barrish as Jack
* Michael Devine as Christopher
* Stephanie Kurtzuba as Helen Graff
*
Matthew Del Negro
Matthew Del Negro (born August 2, 1972) is an American actor.
Life and career
Matthew Del Negro was born in Mount Kisco, New York, as the youngest of three children. He grew up in Westchester County. He is a graduate of Boston College, where h ...
as Darren Dunn
*
Jeffrey Brooks
Jeffrey Brooks (born 1956) is an American composer living in Minneapolis. Brooks composed the popular work ''Dreadnought'' (for wind ensemble) as well as several works for Bang on a Can.
Brooks holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and ...
as Police Officer
* Patricia Black as Marjorie
* Kate Skinner as Trish
* Anthony Bowden as Young Roger
* Pamela Dunlap as Carol Flanagan
* Brittany Bradford as Nina
*
Jeff Hiller
Jeff Hiller is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his portrayal of Joel on '' Somebody Somewhere''. He is also known for his role as Mr. Whitely in '' American Horror Story: NYC''.
Life and career
Hiller graduated from Texas Lut ...
as Therapist
Episodes
Season 1 (2022)
Production
The series is based on a 2018 article for '' New York'' " The Cut" by Reeves Wiedeman, which chronicled the experience of Derek and Maria Broaddus after they received threatening letters upon moving into their home at 657 Boulevard in
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316, which continued until they sold the home in 2019. The character John Graff was based on John List, a
mass murderer
Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more p ...
and longtime
fugitive
A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
who murdered his family in his Westfield home in 1971. Similarities between John Graff's character and the List murders include his career as an accountant, attending Lutheran church, and murdering his family members and live-in mother, along with leaving music playing in the house and planning an alibi that would cause the bodies to remain undiscovered for several weeks.
On-location scenes for the home at 657 Boulevard were filmed at a private residence in
Rye, New York
Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...
that was built in 2016. The scenes where the Brannock family stays at a motel were filmed at an operating motel located in the hamlet of
Locust Valley
Locust Valley is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 3,406 at the 2010 census.
History
The rollin ...
on Long Island, New York.
While no scenes were filmed at the real-life 657 Boulevard residence in Westfield, the neighborhood received increased attention from visitors and fans following the release of the series; the home was guarded by police and
barricade tape
Barricade tape is brightly colored tape (often incorporating a two-tone pattern of alternating yellow-black or red-white stripes or the words "Caution" or "Danger" in prominent lettering) that is used to warn or catch the attention of passersby ...
to prevent trespassers in October 2022.
Reception
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 56% approval rating with an average rating of 5.5/10, based on 34 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "This suburban nightmare sometimes achieves the campy fright of creator Ryan Murphy's best horror fare, but it sprawls in too many ludicrous directions to satisfy."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Daniel D'Addario of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' summarized the show as "ultimately unremarkable fiction."