This film is oriented upon the social dynamic often occurrent between members of the opposite sex; with the leading male’s sexuality/loneliness driving his every interaction with the female ‘resident’ occupying his father’s household.
This is something instantly discernable in this film; before the occurrences presented elevate to that of stalking and violence. Such emotional nuances are made evident through the talent of the cast; before the film descends into predictability.
One of the main things it targets is the class divide and inequalities between landlords and their residents and the fact that it can often transcend financial extortion to something much more macabre.
The elongated cinematography is something metaphoric, in my eyes; exemplifying the boring, representative cycle of the nurses life. This, quickly juxtaposed to her witnessing an overdose in the workplace depicts how her empathy (appropriate, considering her employment) rendered her vulnerable to the vulgarity of what occurs throughout the film; however, it could just as easily have happened to someone else – but they may not have been as amicable to the predators in this movie.
Where the elderly, unwell father in ownership of the household is concerned, he is essentially a talisman the leading male uses to be regarded in higher esteem by the female he effectively psychoanalyses and from therein- socially engineers.
With it being a horror, it’s a given that certain characters will harbor heinous intentions; so I attempt to regard such films without being categorically cliched. It puts forward a pretty cynical idea; that genuine people simply are too preoccupied with their own lives/careers to support vulnerable individuals; and that anyone outwardly exhibiting empathy are false; indulging their targets with rehearsed utterances to deceptively (and paradoxically) garner the very thing they’re scaring away, true intimacy or sincerity.
This soon proves to be the case for the younger male ‘resident’ after stalking the lead and acting as if their meeting was coincidental. A lot can be said for this, as of eighteen minutes in – it’s begs the question if absolute desperation can be regarded as natural human interaction; but this notion is naive and optimistic – regardless of what transpires later on in the film.
The brevity with which he comes across this woman; and plays it off as mere coincidence is disputable at the point of witnessing it, which plays in the film’s favor as far as artistic merit is concerned; however, I’m more inclined to believe that the resident is either someone incredibly socially repressed. There is some semblance of beauty in the camera work – juxtaposed to the growing disillusionment with humanity enveloping my mind.
Up until the thirty minute mark, it’s like you’re watching an extremely dubious romantic drama; but I say this in jest. The counterbalance between what constitutes affection; and how much it means to either individual is way off kilter. The tone swiftly changes, though.
In this case, it appears to be a collective means of social engineering the female resident by the elderly owner and his son – but it all depends on how one is to regard the nature of coincidences; or the self-revelatory camera pans early on into the feature. I guess the actors give themselves away, to some extent. The rewinding of the angles/lack of chronology that spawns in here really does give you insight into the protagonist’s obsessive behavior. Unfortunately the movie, at a certain point, thrusts them right in your face.
You’re presented with a pretty nihilistic state of affairs really, with Juliet being evidently traumatized by some previous relationship issues – and a stalker with way too much capital and a capacity for predatory manipulation in his pursuit for intimacy.
The differences between the two character’s career roles is something worth considering, with one being of the upmost caring intimacy (nursing) and the other of a more; janitorial status, the lack of people to acknowledge in a worldly sense, not just romantically.
Upon the arrival of her previous partner, you begin to wonder about the back story of every male romantically involved with her – and can, to some extent, begin to think about what exactly has/hasn’t occurred off-camera and the tremulous nature of delusional love (in the hands of the ill equipped individual.)
Major plot-points played out as one would most often imagine from a feature such as this; and the emotionally engaging, dramatic elements are snatched away too quickly – and I suppose that might be representative just how fragile the human mind can be.
Sedlo