Is The Watcher A True Story? Is The Watcher Netflix A True Story?
by A Maria
Updated Feb 28, 2023
The Watcher
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan created The Watcher, a mystery thriller television series for Netflix. The show, which premiered on October 13, 2022, is loosely based on a 2018 article titled "The Cut" by Reeves Wiedeman and follows a married couple who are harassed by a stalker known as "The Watcher" after moving into their dream home in a fictionalized version of Westfield, New Jersey. Although initially intended as a miniseries, The Watcher was renewed for a second season in November 2022.
Is The Watcher A True Story?
Before Derek and Maria Broaddus, the couple who inspired the story of the Brannocks could move into their new house in Westfield, New Jersey in June 2014, they began receiving anonymous letters from someone calling themselves The Watcher. The letters claimed that the writer's family had been watching over the home since the 1920s and that they were now in charge of "waiting for its second coming." The Watcher also scolded the couple for beginning renovations and threatened to kidnap their three children. The Broadduses contacted the police and learned that the previous owners had also received an anonymous letter before they moved out. However, since they had lived in the house for 23 years without incident, they assumed the letter was a prank and discarded it.
Source: marieclarie
Is The Watcher Netflix A True Story?
The events described in a 2018 New York Magazine/The Cut article by Reeves Wiedeman served as inspiration for The Watcher. The story follows Derek and Maria Broaddus, a couple who purchased a grand house in Westfield, New Jersey called 657 Boulevard in 2014 with the intention of making it their dream home. However, as they started renovating the property in preparation for their move-in, they received a troubling letter addressed to "The New Owner" from someone identifying themselves as the Watcher.
The Watcher claimed to be responsible for watching the house before its "second coming" and revealed that their family had been watching the property for decades. The letter contained cryptic questions about the Broadduses' knowledge of the house's history and what they knew about the secrets hidden within its walls. The Watcher also mentioned the Broadduses' children and asked them to "fill the house with young blood."
Concerned, the Broadduses turned to the police, who advised them not to share the letter's contents with their neighbors, as they suspected that one of them could have been responsible for sending it. Mia Farrow stars in Ryan Murphy's adaptation of the story, The Watcher, on Netflix.
Source: marieclaire
What Happened To 657 Boulevard?
The actual 657 Boulevard, which is the house at the center of the real-life Watcher story, is not the same as the one depicted in the show. The sprawling mansion with a pool featured on Netflix is situated in Westchester County, New York, where the series was filmed. In contrast, the real house in Westfield, New Jersey, is a six-bedroom, three-bathroom shingle-style home built in 1905, according to the Westfield Historic Preservation Society. You can see the real house on Google Maps if you're not familiar with architectural terms.
Despite its notorious history, the Broadduses eventually found a buyer for 657 Boulevard. The couple sold the house for $959,000 in the summer of 2019, taking a loss after purchasing it for over $1.35 million in 2014. As per NY Mag, they left a photo of The Watcher's handwriting in case any new letters surfaced, but as of October 11, 2022, none have.
The Broadduses still live in Westfield, and reminders of the Watcher saga are still present around town. They have declined all on-camera interviews and sold the rights to their story after the article was published in 2018, assuming that the story would likely be told with or without their approval. The couple reportedly made two requests to the show's production team: to avoid using their names and to make the family look as little like theirs as possible (hence the Brannocks having two children instead of three). They also suggested that the show could burn the house down, but it remains standing at the end of the finale.
Source: marieclaire
Who Is The Watcher In The Netflix Series?
After an investigation, the Broadduses suspected that Michael Langford, a neighbor whose family was considered eccentric, might be the Watcher because of the vantage point of his family's home. However, Langford was later cleared of suspicion. The Broadduses hired their own private detective to investigate the neighborhood, and they received three letters in total. The second letter contained personal information about their children that could only have been known by someone who had been inside the house or had close proximity to it. During their search for the Watcher, the Broadduses discovered that the previous owners, the Woods, had also received a letter before moving out, but had no problems during the 23 years they lived in the house before that.
Source: radiotimes
About The Watcher TV Series
SPECIFICATIONS
DETAILS
Genre
Created by
Based on
"The Haunting of a Dream House"
by Reeves Wiedeman
Starring
Composers
No. of seasons
1
No. of episodes
7
Executive producers
Producers
Cinematography
Editors
Production Company
Ryan Murphy Productions
Distributor
Netflix Streaming Services
Original network
Netflix
Original release
October 13, 2022
Is The Watcher A True Story - FAQs
Yes, the show is loosely based on the real-life experience of Derek and Maria Broaddus, who received anonymous letters from someone calling themselves The Watcher shortly after purchasing their dream home in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014.
The Watcher is a mystery thriller television series that follows a married couple, the Brannocks, who are harassed by a stalker known as "The Watcher" after moving into their dream home in a fictionalized version of Westfield, New Jersey.
The Watcher was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan for Netflix.
The Watcher premiered on October 13, 2022, on Netflix.
Yes, The Watcher was renewed for a second season in November 2022.