Stan’s Watching You is elevated Australian noir – sexy, stylish and suspenseful
- Written by: Adam Daniel, Associate Lecturer in Communication, Western Sydney University
In recent years, Australian TV has built a reputation for gritty, stylish crime thrillers that linger long after the credits roll. In series such as Mystery Road (2018–), Scrublands (2023–25) and Black Snow (2023–), intimate character drama is blended with thriller tropes, delivering stories that are emotionally resonant and gripping.
Watching You, a new Stan limited series starring Aisha Dee, is a worthy addition to this lineage. It’s tense, seductive and absorbing.
At the centre is Lina (Aisha Dee), a paramedic with a taste for risk. She’s happily engaged to Cain (Chai Hansen), but a fleeting encounter with an enigmatic stranger, Dan (Josh Helman), awakens a desire she can’t resist.
What begins as a reckless one-night stand in a rental property quickly spirals into a nightmare; Lina and Dan discover the affair has been secretly filmed, and the footage is now being used to blackmail her.
As threats escalate and paranoia takes hold, Lina embarks on a desperate hunt to unmask the voyeur. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous and intimate the threat becomes.
A fresh spin on Australian noir
Watching You has a distinctively Australian noir sensibility.
Lead director Peter Salmon, production designer Virginia Mesiti and cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe said they drew inspiration from Sydney’s oppressive summer heat, using natural elements as active forces in the drama. By exposing for harsh sunlight and embracing deep, enveloping shadows, the team create an atmosphere that amplifies Lina’s internal conflict.
This tactile, elemental approach is blended with Hitchcockian framing and the sensual unease of erotic thrillers such as Basic Instinct (1992) and Unfaithful (2002).
The series walks a tightrope between moments of tension, sensuality and raw emotional truth. This tonal balancing act is no easy feat, but Watching You, for the most part, achieves it.
Aisha Dee commands the screen
The success of the series hinges on Dee’s magnetic performance as Lina. After making waves in Sissy (2022) and the acclaimed Safe Home (2023), this layered and complex performance reminds us why Dee is one of Australia’s most compelling screen talents.
As Lina, she embodies both fierce competence and inner fragility. We understand her as a woman who is used to high-stakes pressure, but we also see the compulsions and vulnerabilities that have lured her into her dilemma. She is captivating throughout.
Helman provides an excellent counterpoint as Dan, the stranger who becomes the catalyst for Lina’s unravelling. Helman plays Dan with the right mix of charm and opacity.
Their chemistry is believable, but there’s also something uneasy about Helman’s Dan. He successfully embodies the central paradox of desire and danger that drives the series.
Themes with bite
Beyond its surface thrills, Watching You engages with some weighty and timely themes. As the story develops, there’s an interesting exploration of coercive control and the insidious nature of male violence towards women.
The show also interrogates addiction and compulsion; the thrill-seeking and danger in Lina’s pursuit of the affair complicate the moral contours of her choices. These psychological dimensions elevate Watching You to beyond a simple crime thriller.
Equally potent is the commentary on surveillance culture. In an era where every phone, security camera and laptop may be a potential tool for voyeurism, the series carries an unsettling familiarity.
It cleverly exploits our technological fears, by reminding us how the very devices meant to provide safety and connection can be turned against us.
Australian crime thrillers on the rise
There has been a marked resurgence in Australian crime dramas that may appeal to both domestic and international audiences. Viewers are hungry for stories that combine local flavour with universal stakes, and Watching You fits neatly into this trend while carving out its own space.
I have a few small nitpicks with the series. There are some red herrings that don’t quite work, some unresolved questions about supporting characters’ behaviours, and some geographical wizardry as characters seem to teleport between Lina’s remote bush property and the city multiple times a day.
That said, the series overcomes these issues with its strengths. Its blend of erotic tension, reinterpretation of noir style, and contemporary social critique raise it above more formulaic fare.
Watching You is a thriller that critiques our voyeuristic culture. It is taut and gripping, but also thought-provoking in its examination of how women may be controlled or endangered – not only by a hidden lens, but by more pervasive and insidious threats.
Authors: Adam Daniel, Associate Lecturer in Communication, Western Sydney University
