Buddy action movies have been done to death throughout movie history. From comedies to dark action films, every angle possible has been taken. Well, almost. Then along came Neighborhood Watch, written by Sean Farley and directed by Duncan Skiles, who crafted the compelling 2018 thriller The Clovehitch Killer. Neighborhood Watch thinks outside the box by telling a very familiar story in a new way. In the film, a young woman is abducted, and the hunt is on to find her and her kidnapper before it’s too late, but our heroes aren’t two detectives. Instead, they’re a couple of down-and-out dudes who have been shunned by the world. Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan give heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious performances as two men who need to prove to themselves and everyone around them that they can save the day.
What Is ‘Neighborhood Watch’ About?

When Neighborhood Watch begins, we meet Simon McNally (Quaid) getting off a bus and going to a job interview at a local diner. It seems like an easy enough job to get, but it’s going to be harder for Simon since he hasn’t had a job in ten years. When the manager asks him why he hasn’t worked for so long, Simon says he was in a hospital and covers up cuts on his wrists. That’s all we need to know. Simon also hears voices that tell him how horrible he is, along with shouting weird things out loud that have nothing to do with the situation he’s in. That’s enough to scare off potential employers and everyone around him. All he has in his life is the sister he lives with, DeeDee (Malin Akerman), and the old man covered in dirt that only he can see.
Simon’s next-door neighbor, Ed Deerman (Morgan), isn’t faring much better. He may not deal with a serious mental illness like Simon, but his life is dragging him down into despair. He lives alone and recently lost his job as the Director of Security at the local college because he took it all too seriously. The first time we see him, he’s sneaking back on campus and apprehending a thief because he’s unable to accept that he is now retired.
One day, Simon is walking home when he sees a young woman being yelled at by a man in an alley. From afar, he watches as the man beats the woman and throws her in a van before driving off. Simon has the license plate number and goes to the police, but they know his violent past and don’t seem to believe him. Wanting so badly to help, Simon turns to Ed, thinking he used to be a cop. Now these two men, who have nothing in common but their failures and loneliness, decide to work together to find and save this young woman, and maybe find and save themselves in the process.
The Gritty, Realistic Setting Is Another Character in ‘Neighborhood Watch’

Neighborhood Watch doesn’t take place in New York City or Los Angeles but in Birmingham, Alabama. If you’re going to tell a story about two forgotten men, it’s effective to have it take place in a city that’s forgotten. When the film begins, the very first thing we’re shown is the decay of the city, with businesses closed, buildings crumbling, lots overgrown, and homes boarded up. Birmingham looks as depressed as Simon and Ed feel, making the city another character in the movie.
Neighborhood Watch is a gritty, realistic-looking film, but without being too much of a downer. Duncan Skiles isn’t out to depress the audience, but simply show us a city as it. It’s like a glimpse into reality and not a Hollywood venture. That’s not just established through the look of the city either, but the plot of the movie. There are no action crime film tropes to be found here. Ed drives an old Crown Vic, but there are no car chase scenes. This is not a shoot ’em up either. When a gun appears, it’s a jolt. Like The Clovehitch Killer, Neighborhood Watch wants to draw us in deeply, as if we’re in a documentary, by keeping the setting and its characters as three-dimensional as possible. It’s a human film, not one where the action comes first.
Still, this does not mean Neighborhood Watch is a slow burn. Far from it. As Simon and Ed get deeper into unraveling the mystery, they find themselves thrust into wilder, more life-threatening scenarios. The difference between this movie and other action films is that nothing is contrived here. It’s all plausible, which only adds to the tension, because we feel like we’re right there with Simon and Ed in this well-crafted world.
Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan Are Unforgettable Heroes

Image via RLJE Films 

Neighborhood Watch has an interesting premise in a meaningful setting, but it’s Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan that are far and away the selling point. Quaid’s character of Simon has a severe mental illness, and while that is the focus of his character, the movie doesn’t get bogged down in backstory. We get glimpses here and there through dialogue of how bad it got and some of the horrible things he did, but we’re living in the now and the aftereffects of the trauma he’s been through. The voices in his head are cruel in how they talk to him and tell Simon that he can’t do anything. It’s tragic when we learn just who that voice and the man covered in dirt is, showing that Simon is not just a young man with an illness, but he’s also the product of his environment.
The best thing Sean Farley and Duncan Skiles do with Simon is that they make him believable. Neighborhood Watch never hints at Simon as being unreliable. We see what he sees, so we know the abduction is real and not a figment of his damaged mind. His mental illness is very integral to the story, but it’s not made light of and turned into a trope. If Neighborhood Watch is missing one thing, it’s that there could have been just a little more between Simon and his sister, Deedee, but the plot more than makes up for it through Simon’s relationship with Ed, a man who is just as troubled in his way.

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You’ve probably met guys like Ed Deerman before. He worked as a security guard, but he acts like he was a cop. He takes everything too seriously, believes he’s always right, and it’s everyone else around him who is an idiot. He even dismisses Simon as that freak who lives next door. It’s not all an act, but he is covering up his insecurities too. He knows he’s not everything he wishes he could be, and he overcompensates for it, but he’s still a smart man and the easy leader of this two-man group. He and Simon couldn’t be more different, and Ed doesn’t want anything to do with his new partner at first, but the need to prove that he is worthy of being looked at as someone respectable pushes him.
Neighborhood Watch is a film about men’s mental health, and how two broken men heal by befriending each other. It can be dark at times, but there is also a lot of comedy that comes from how sure Ed is in all situations, no matter that everyone around him might look at him much differently than he sees himself. It’s also a very sweet movie, especially when the rough-around-the-edges Ed begins to accept Simon and tries to help him through his episodes rather than making fun of him. There’s a scene with a pen of all things that will for sure put a smile on your face. The whole movie will really. Neighborhood Watch might have dark subject matter with two dark and broken characters, but there is sweetness and laughs in the realness. A heartbreaking tragedy is also one of the best feel-good movies of the year.

Neighborhood Watch

A formulaic story is made unforgettable due to its lead characters.

Release Date

April 25, 2025

Director

Duncan Skiles

Writers

Sean Farley

Pros & Cons

Jack Quaid shows how people with mental illness are dismissed.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan finds layers to a cocky character.
The overall plot is riveting and filled with twists and turns.
The gritty, realistic tone gives the film a throwback feel.

More could have been done with the villain reveal.
The film feels like it ends a few minutes too soon.