I See You follows a family being watched by two phroggers living in their home amidst a kidnapping case, sharing similarities to a real-life event.

The 2019 film I See You shares striking similarities with a real-life murder case. The film tells an eerie story of two young adults living in the Harper house without the family's knowledge. The act is called phrogging, which is similar to squatting, the difference being phrogging is when individuals live in an occupied property, while squatting is living in an unoccupied or abandoned property. The film features two perspectives, beginning with the family's story and then switching halfway through to the phroggers, Alec (Owen Teague) and Mindy (Libe Barer.) Mindy is recording the two of them in the Harper house and seemingly making a documentary.

However, Alec has darker motives and wants to mess with the family by moving things around to make them think they're going insane. Before Alec and Mindy are revealed, it seems as if something supernatural is going on. However, it was actually the phroggers doing things like throwing a mug off the roof and hitting Todd or locking Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) in the closet. It's later revealed that Greg is the one who has been kidnapping young boys in the town for the past 15 years, and Alec is one of his victims.

I See You Is Not Based On A True Story (Technically)

The film I See You is a work of fiction. It was written by actor and filmmaker Devon Graye and adapted into a film by director Adam Randall. Randall told The Movie Waffler that after reading the script, he couldn't stop thinking about it and knew he wanted to get on board with bringing it to life. While the film may have taken inspiration from the many kidnappings throughout history, it isn't based on one specific case.

Phrogging isn't as heard of as squatting, but there are real-life cases where people have found strangers living in their homes without their knowledge. However, Alec and Mindy weren't based on real-life phroggers, and Greg and his family's story was also a work of fiction. Graye may have studied some cases of Phrogging while writing the film. One particular story of murder and phrogging is similar to the events in I See You.

I See You's Real-life Connections

Graye wrote I See You from his imagination, though the story of the Denver Spiderman shares some similarities to the film. In 1941, Theodore Edward Coneys broke into Philip Peters' home to steal food while the man's wife was hospitalized. Peters caught him, and Coneys beat him to death. When the wife returned home, she noticed strange occurrences in her house, like weird smells and things going missing. She decided to move out and go live with her son. In July 1942, police found Coneys living in the Peters' attic, where he'd been living since killing Peters. While the story isn't the same as I See You, it may have inspired the phrogging storyline.