A mentally ill young man teams up with a security guard forced into retirement to solve a kidnapping in Neighborhood Watch, now available on VOD platforms. This modest but engaging feature from director Duncan Skiles (The Clovehitch Killer) thrives on the dynamic between its two lead characters and compelling performances from Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan; Quaid has had an especially strong start to 2025 with standout work here following turns in Companion and Novocaine.
There’s only one problem with the kidnapping at the heart of the film, witnessed by Simon McNally (Quaid) on his way home from a disastrous job interview: it may or may not have actually occurred. Simon suffers from an unspecified mental illness that includes schizophrenia-like symptoms of paranoia and hallucinations, and was just released from a 10-year stay in a psychiatric ward—not the best explanation for that lengthy gap in his résumé.
Aware of his own condition—and taunted by disturbing visions of his father, foul-mouthed and naked—Simon knows that he cannot trust what he saw. But he also can’t ignore it, and with a vague description of the male kidnapper and his female victim, and a complete license plate number of the van he saw her get thrown into, he turns to the police and Detective Glover (Cecile Cubiló) to report it.
Simon, whose speech turns into word salad when he becomes anxious, also knows that the police won’t take his report at face value once they know about his condition. So he also appeals to his irritable neighbor Ed Deerman (Morgan), recently forced out of his job as a security guard at the local campus, for some help. Ed agrees to try and track down the plate number—if only to prove that there’s nothing there, and get the kid off his back.
Neighborhood Watch is patterned after a low-key noir story (a la The Kid Detective), but places deep focus on its two leads, who each prove to be compelling characterizations. As an amateur detective who knows that he cannot trust what he sees (“is that man really there?” he asks Ed at one point), Simon is one of the most ill-equipped protagonists after the gunfighter who suffers from debilitating seizures in A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die. But we root for him more and more the greater the odds stack up against him.
Morgan’s Ed, too, becomes an unexpectedly sympathetic presence the more we get to know him. Initially portrayed as a hardass who sprays hand sanitizer in the face of a college student for the crime of stealing some croissants, his reluctant assistance eventually reveals some genuine care for Simon. Ed also happens to be hard of hearing—providing for some inspired See No Evil, Hear No Evil comedy when paired with Simon’s potential hallucinations.
Neither of these guys is equipped to take down a human trafficking ring, and the screenplay (by Sean Farley) is well aware of that, and remains credible throughout by never turning them into superheroes. Simon and Ed are generally unable to defend themselves, let alone anyone else, which makes for all the more compelling—and relatable. Quaid and Morgan both shine in unusually endearing performances; Malin Akerman is also solid in support as Simon’s fatigued sister.
Neighborhood Watch was shot across urban locations in Alabama, which help give the narrative a gritty authenticity that helps separate this movie from more polished Hollywood fare. Like in his previous film, director Skiles gets a lot of mileage from his sincere recreation of a very specific location and the characters that inhabit it, aided by understated lensing from cinematographer Luke McCoubrey.
Despite the presence of The Walking Dead star Morgan and Quaid, who has taken the lead in two wide cinema releases in early 2025, Neighborhood Watch has been dumped on VOD with seemingly little fanfare. But audiences tuning in without expectations will be pleasantly surprised by this one, which offers modest but real rewards. Neighborhood Watch is a taut, gritty gem that proves even the most unlikely heroes can uncover the truth.
