The Voyeurs: When a Steamy Thriller Became a Turning Point
The Story That Sparked Curiosity
When The Voyeurs was released on Amazon Prime Video in September 2021, it was marketed as a sophisticated erotic thriller in the vein of Rear Window and Fatal Attraction, with a clear contemporary twist. The film followed Pippa (Sydney Sweeney) and Thomas (Justice Smith), a young couple moving into their dream apartment in Montreal. Their lives seemed ordinary until they realized their windows looked directly into the apartment of glamorous neighbors, Seb (Ben Hardy) and Julia (Natasha Liu Bordizzo).
What starts as innocent curiosity eventually turns into obsession. Pippa and Thomas watch their neighbors’ lives — initially with amusement, then with envy and, finally, with a voyeuristic hunger that blurs morality. The film avoids settling for cheap thrills, spiraling instead into betrayal, manipulation, and shocking revelations as Pippa is forced to confront what she has seen, and what she has become in the process.
The characters were bold and complex, and required the actors to delve deep beyond surface-level intimacy. But, perhaps, more intriguing than the on-screen drama, was what unfolded for the cast once the film was released into the world.
Sydney Sweeney: From Rising Star To An Object of Cultural Fanaticism Sweeney commenced shooting The Voyeurs in the same year as the second season of Euphoria and the White Lotus, in which she garnered her breakout role. Despite Pippa being written as an everywoman character corrupted by desire, Sweeney, by sheer force of her talent, was able to carry a film on her own. She was daring in her vulnerability and quietly devastating during the last act.
The offscreen challenges the role presented were, to a degree, unprecedented. The erotic scenes were, for Sweeney, an exercise in trust, not just with her co-stars, but in the entire crew. She has since shifted the conversation to the crucial role intimacy coordinators play, and how her scenes in The Voyeurs were proof of trust from her coordinators to allow her to explore Pippa’s character.
In her career, she has made the bold decision to work on projects which, like The Voyeurs, carry a degree of risk. Unlike previous actresses who have done intimate scenes and have been pushed into stagnant “sex symbol” roles, Sweeney embraced the opportunity The Voyeurs presented and shifted to high-budget dramas and comedies. The film did not derail her, but rather allowed her to carve a new identity. She has since been one of the most sought after emerging actresses in Hollywood.
Justice Smith: Breaking Away from the Boy-Next-Door
Justice Smith, from family-favorites like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, had added unique value to The Voyeurs, where he became part of a raw, R-rated drama. Dealing with the more complex emotions of jealousy, emasculation, and despair was a different challenge for him.
For Smith, the R drama was thumbnail to him breaking from the ‘safe’ roles and erve into the ‘darker’ roles. It was a great opportunity to he audition what he was capable of, garnering a great lot of audience and professionals admiration. Smith’s more recent role in Sharpen (2023) further allowed him to slightly unload the burden of complex roles and develop themes usually dealt with.
From the audience, the emotional connection cast typed and close to the chest with Sweeney, knotting the emotional inner-rop and performing scenes of intimacy while keeping the level in professional. The rationality developed between the audeine and the film.
Ben Hardy: From Rock God to Seductive Stranger
Ben Hardy was no stranger to fame before The Voyeurs — he had played Roger Taylor in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and appeared in action blockbusters like X-Men: Apocalypse and 6 Underground. But Seb was a very different beast: a charismatic yet manipulative photographer whose charm concealed dangerous impulses. The role required Hardy to exude effortless magnetism while hinting at darker motives, and it paid off. Critics noted how he shifted from alluring to unsettling within seconds. Off-screen, Hardy admitted that filming such intimate material was challenging at first, but the professionalism of the crew helped transform awkwardness into artistry.
Career-wise, The Voyeurs added another layer to Hardy’s portfolio. No longer just the pretty-boy rocker or action hero, he proved he could handle more complex, morally ambiguous characters. That willingness to take risks helped him secure more diverse roles, especially in independent films, which sought actors able to portray a unique blend of vulnerability and menace.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo: Reintroducing Mystique and Grace
As Julia, Natasha Liu Bordizzo gave a performance that was both mysterious and tragic. Julia was the glamorous yet trapped, free-spirited yet vulnerable, object of Pippa and Thomas’s obsession. It was a role that required sensuality and empathy, characteristics that were gracefully balanced in the performance.
For Bordizzo, The Voyeurs marked the turning point of her career. She started gaining recognition with her roles in The Greatest Showman and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. Julia was her first opportunity to portray a character with emotional depth, which led to her casting in Disney’s 2023 Ahsoka series, where she played the iconic role of Sabine Wren.
Her dramatic shift from sensuality in The Voyeurs to big franchised sci-fi was an indicator of how the film expanded her range rather than boxed her in. It was proof that she was able to embody intimacy and action, and mystery and strength.
Behind the Curtains: The Bonds That Made the Film
What many people do not consider about The Voyeurs is the degree of trust and collaboration it involved. The potential for exploitation is much higher when filming an intimate thriller, however, the cast and crew were completely conscious of and worked tirelessly to avoid that. The employment of intimacy coordinators ensured that the actors not only had a guarantee of safety regarding the more sensational scenes, but also that they had a degree of creative control. Both Sweeney and Smith have indicated that the involvement of intimacy coordinators was an important factor in their scenes being perceived as genuine, as opposed to performative.
In addition to the social challenges of filming in Montreal during the pandemic, there was the fact that the cast were placed in an isolated “bubble” during the limited inter-continental travel. This isolation created genuine bonds, which Hardy has spoke about in many interviews as being “li“ke a little family.” This was beneficial for the emotional nakedness the script required, and it was beneficial for the overall performance.
Cinematography also had its own specific challenges to overcome. The large, reflective windows conveniently located at the filming location had to be used as “morality” mirrors for the voyeuristic scenes. There was a unique distance and intimacy that the actors had to convey in those scenes to make the voyeuristic angles work. Capturing that required many repetitions and a great deal of patience, which in turn fostered a respect for each other.
The Legacy After the Peep
Upon its release on Prime Video, The Voyeurs was the subject of much discussion. Some critics lauded its attempt at resurrecting the erotic thriller, albeit within the framework of contemporary mores. Others, however, found its plot developments over the top. Yet, in the end, the film generated much for all its followers.
For Sweeney, it was the beginning of her ascendency in Hollywood. For Smith, it was validation that he was more than just the “nice guy.” For Hardy, it was an opportunity to shed the more mainstream roles and explore the captivatingly dangerous. As for Bordizzo, it was the unheralded opportunity that launched her into the galaxy with Star Wars.
The film The Voyeurs may have been stylishly crafted pulp, but for the cast more than anything else, it was the clinical dissection of the intricate weave of the limits: emotional, personal, and psychological. The dissection has, in unanticipated ways, shaped the careers for the cast more than most of the audience expected when they first peeped through those cinematic windows.
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