The Occupant
4/4
Starring: Javier Gutierrez, Mario Casas, Bruna Cusi, Ruth Diaz, Iris Valles
Not Rated (Probable R for Some Violence and Language)
See this movie.
No, seriously. I really wish that I could just write those three words and leave it at that. I knew nothing about this movie before I turned it on, and that is the ideal way to be when turning on this movie for the first time. Having no idea of where this movie is going will make the experience all the more potent.
Actually, that's a bit of a lie. The film has a set trajectory that becomes apparent before the first act is over. The question is whether or not the pieces will fall into play the way we anticipate. Some of what happens is inevitable. Other times it takes you by surprise.
Javier Munoz (Gutierrez) is a man who has lost everything. Once a legend in the ad world, he finds himself out of a job and too experienced to get another for what he is worth. He is forced to sell his car, his son's private school education, and worst of all, his beautiful apartment overlooking the city. There's only so much of this that a guy can take. Eventually, jealousy wins out and he begins to spy on the new tenant. His name is Tomas (Casas), and he has everything that Javier once had. This is something that Javier can no longer accept.
"The Occupant" is a study of evil. True, stomach-churning evil. It is cold, calculating and ruthless. I'm a fan of Heath Ledger's Joker, Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter, and all the classic cinema psychos, but in a way, their colorful antics don't compare to the calm cruelty of Javier Munoz. This is a man who wrecks havoc on an innocent man and shows zero concern for anything but his own desires. It's a chilling thing to be in the presence of someone without a shred of compassion for anything but his own ego.
The lead performance by Javier Gutierrez is brilliant. In a perfect world, he would have the 2020 Oscar for Best Actor in the bag (sadly, the film is too low profile for the Academy and has been released far earlier than their 3 month long attention span). Even though it's only April, I'm going to call this the best performance of the year. No one could possibly come close. The transformation he goes through is perfectly modulated. At first, he seems like a likable guy who has been dealt a bad hand by fate and lashes out in anger and jealousy. We may not agree with him or like what he does, but we understand his impulses. Then, slowly but surely, he gets scarier and scarier. Only at the end do we see his true face. It's astonishing to watch.
Mario Casas doesn't have as juicy of a role, but the movie wouldn't work without him. Like Javier, he undergoes a change. When we first meet him, our initial impression is the same as Javier's: he's so perfect and has such the perfect life that we want to smash his face in. But the more we see of him, the more we like him. Tomas is a likable guy trying to do the right thing for himself and his family, but he has vulnerabilities that Javier is all too willing to exploit. This is a tricky role for Casas, as we must see the character in two ways: from Javier's perspective and our own.
The film was directed by the Pastor brothers, Alex and David. The wrote and directed the criminally underrated post-apocalyptic drama "Carriers," a movie that slowly grew on me and ended up being one of my favorites. With "The Occupant," they show that they are real filmmakers. They are in absolute control of the material, allowing the story to unfold in the same cold, clinical style as its protagonist. This movie is a slow-burn thriller, which is a genre that tries the talents of even the best filmmakers. Just look at Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution." Indeed, the story moves slowly and in reality not much happens in it. But they have the rhythm right, so it builds and builds and builds. There is very little conventional action and no sex of any kind. But by the end of the film the suspense becomes unbearable. Hitchcock would be proud.
"The Occupant" is a movie that is almost perfect. You watch it in sheer admiration of the guts it took the cast and crew to make it and the skill it took to pull it off. At least until the sense of terror and dread overwhelms you. And it finally ends on a twist that is earned. It's nothing like something M. Night Shyamalan might have done. It's just that we now see what the film had been setting us up for all along.
Movies like "The Occupant" are a reminder of why I became a critic in the first place.
Starring: Javier Gutierrez, Mario Casas, Bruna Cusi, Ruth Diaz, Iris Valles
Not Rated (Probable R for Some Violence and Language)
See this movie.
No, seriously. I really wish that I could just write those three words and leave it at that. I knew nothing about this movie before I turned it on, and that is the ideal way to be when turning on this movie for the first time. Having no idea of where this movie is going will make the experience all the more potent.
Actually, that's a bit of a lie. The film has a set trajectory that becomes apparent before the first act is over. The question is whether or not the pieces will fall into play the way we anticipate. Some of what happens is inevitable. Other times it takes you by surprise.
Javier Munoz (Gutierrez) is a man who has lost everything. Once a legend in the ad world, he finds himself out of a job and too experienced to get another for what he is worth. He is forced to sell his car, his son's private school education, and worst of all, his beautiful apartment overlooking the city. There's only so much of this that a guy can take. Eventually, jealousy wins out and he begins to spy on the new tenant. His name is Tomas (Casas), and he has everything that Javier once had. This is something that Javier can no longer accept.
"The Occupant" is a study of evil. True, stomach-churning evil. It is cold, calculating and ruthless. I'm a fan of Heath Ledger's Joker, Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter, and all the classic cinema psychos, but in a way, their colorful antics don't compare to the calm cruelty of Javier Munoz. This is a man who wrecks havoc on an innocent man and shows zero concern for anything but his own desires. It's a chilling thing to be in the presence of someone without a shred of compassion for anything but his own ego.
The lead performance by Javier Gutierrez is brilliant. In a perfect world, he would have the 2020 Oscar for Best Actor in the bag (sadly, the film is too low profile for the Academy and has been released far earlier than their 3 month long attention span). Even though it's only April, I'm going to call this the best performance of the year. No one could possibly come close. The transformation he goes through is perfectly modulated. At first, he seems like a likable guy who has been dealt a bad hand by fate and lashes out in anger and jealousy. We may not agree with him or like what he does, but we understand his impulses. Then, slowly but surely, he gets scarier and scarier. Only at the end do we see his true face. It's astonishing to watch.
Mario Casas doesn't have as juicy of a role, but the movie wouldn't work without him. Like Javier, he undergoes a change. When we first meet him, our initial impression is the same as Javier's: he's so perfect and has such the perfect life that we want to smash his face in. But the more we see of him, the more we like him. Tomas is a likable guy trying to do the right thing for himself and his family, but he has vulnerabilities that Javier is all too willing to exploit. This is a tricky role for Casas, as we must see the character in two ways: from Javier's perspective and our own.
The film was directed by the Pastor brothers, Alex and David. The wrote and directed the criminally underrated post-apocalyptic drama "Carriers," a movie that slowly grew on me and ended up being one of my favorites. With "The Occupant," they show that they are real filmmakers. They are in absolute control of the material, allowing the story to unfold in the same cold, clinical style as its protagonist. This movie is a slow-burn thriller, which is a genre that tries the talents of even the best filmmakers. Just look at Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution." Indeed, the story moves slowly and in reality not much happens in it. But they have the rhythm right, so it builds and builds and builds. There is very little conventional action and no sex of any kind. But by the end of the film the suspense becomes unbearable. Hitchcock would be proud.
"The Occupant" is a movie that is almost perfect. You watch it in sheer admiration of the guts it took the cast and crew to make it and the skill it took to pull it off. At least until the sense of terror and dread overwhelms you. And it finally ends on a twist that is earned. It's nothing like something M. Night Shyamalan might have done. It's just that we now see what the film had been setting us up for all along.
Movies like "The Occupant" are a reminder of why I became a critic in the first place.
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