Neighborhood Watch

In Homewood, Alabama, Simon McNally, a paranoid schizophrenic, experiences vivid hallucinations and is haunted by the disembodied voice of his abusive, deceased father, who continuously degrades and belittles him. Recently released from a mental hospital after nearly a decade, Simon struggles to function in daily life, leaving his older sister DeeDee to bear the financial burden of supporting them both.

One day, Simon witnesses a young woman being assaulted and forced into a van by a man whose face appears blurred to him. His father’s voice insists he is hallucinating and too weak to help, but Simon becomes fixated on rescuing her. He reports the incident to local police detective Glover, who checks the van’s license plate and finds it registered to a car located hundreds of miles away. Recognizing Simon from previous violent episodes related to his mental illness, she dismisses his claims as a delusion.

Desperate, Simon turns to his neighbor Ed Deerman, a reluctantly retired campus security guard. Though skeptical due to Simon’s history, Ed agrees to help. He suspects Simon misread the license plate and proposes looking up similar combinations. At the department of motor vehicles, Ed tries to persuade staff to disclose plate owners, but Simon becomes overwhelmed and has a violent outburst when they refuse. They retreat to Ed’s car, where he unintentionally calms Simon by repeatedly clicking his pen. Based on Simon’s description of the woman’s outfit, Ed questions local sex workers, but the encounter ends with his car being smashed by their pimp. Frustrated, Ed tells Simon he never believed his story. Simon walks off to continue the search alone, but Ed ultimately takes pity and rejoins him.

Ed blackmails his replacement at campus security into acquiring plate records from his traffic officer friend. They visit several owners until they trace the vehicle to Kurt’s Auto Salvage. There, they find the car with its plates removed, meaning the van was using stolen plates and they have no means of tracing it. Suddenly, Simon hears a scream and runs toward a car, believing the woman is inside. Ed stops him and insists there was no scream and no girl.

That night, Simon argues with DeeDee about his resentment at her leaving him alone with their father. Meanwhile, Ed is attacked in his home by the abductor. Simon witnesses this and rushes over. With Ed’s help, he disarms the man and accidentally shoots him dead. They take the man’s phone, which has only two contacts, one of which is Kurt, and go to DeeDee’s workplace so she can tend to Ed’s wounds. The police are alerted to the shooting and begin searching for them. Officers arrive at DeeDee’s workplace, but Simon and Ed escape by bus.

The following day, the pair confront Kurt. Simon notices that the wall clock conceals a safe—similar to Ed’s at home—inside which they find various women’s passports, including one for Anya, the missing woman. Kurt admits that the abductor was a sex trafficker, and Anya was being punished for attempting to escape. After Kurt discloses the abductor’s address, they call the police on him, leaving the passports for Glover to find.

At the address, Simon suffers another breakdown as a hallucination of his father insists he will fail. Ed comforts and calms him using the clicking pen and gifts it to Simon for future use. They break in and search the house but find it empty—until the abductor’s mother appears and flees. Realizing there must be a hidden room, they discover a concealed door, behind which they find Anya.

Police arrive, take Anya to safety, and arrest Ed and Simon, whom Glover quietly congratulates. Simon and Ed exchange a smile while maintaining eye contact, something which Simon had previously been unable to do.

Last Updated: June 25, 2025 at 10:52