A lonely widow, Joyce ( Lin Shaye ) decides to rent out her spare rooms to get out of some financial trouble left to her by her late husband. She eventually rents a room to a drifter who may have a shady past. Joyce a fan of Romance novels starts fantasizing about her new tenant, and if things don't go her way, she will make it go her way by any means possible even if it's rather creepy.
So what worked?
- Lin Shaye is excellent in this role, making you feel empathy for her character even when she is going down the darkest of paths. A great performance that is frail but fearsome . Unpredictably manipulative , but still making you want to root for her in some fashion
- The script aswell takes you on a journey with her character, expertly playing with your emotions towards her character. Kudos too, for not spoon feeding the audience with all the back story for certain events or characters, leading the viewers to fill in some blanks, but not to the point where it's unsatisfying or confusing .
-Confidently directed with great use of light and shadow. Great camera work and a growing sense of tension
What could have been better?
- The story itself is somewhat predictable and you can see certain events coming a while off
-I'm not sure if i quite bought the 'Sarah' character, whose motivations for snooping around seemed somewhat flimsy
Overall a solid drama / thriller that has shades of Fatal attraction & single white female. Lead by a great turn by Shaye
