The Resident

Released: 29th March 2011

Directed By: Antti Jokinen

Starring: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee

Certificate: 15

Reviewed By:Ben Harris

A doctor named Juliet Devereau (Hilary Swank) moves into an apartment after splitting up with her boyfriend who cheated and broke her heart, the usual boring back-story. It’s not long until she suspects she may not be alone in her new home and soon learns that her landlord, Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), has become completely obsessed with her.

There isn’t much waiting around, as ‘The Resident’ gets straight to the point of its story. The build up of tension in this so-called horror film is nonexistent. Our leading lady is quickly made an offer from her landlord to move it. That’s our set up done in just a few minutes so the stalking can begin. Max’s gesture straight away makes us aware he is trouble. Trying to mislead us they throw in a creepy Christopher Lee, who should have been used more and is wasted here. He has a few lines of worthless dialogue and is seen peering through his door with a sadistic expression. Director Antti Jokinen tries to portray him as the “bad guy” but we know instantly this isn’t the case. Not only is the tension lacking but also relationship development between our characters. Max and Juliet start up a friendship that nearly leads to some sexual interaction. Once again it happens to quick and their feelings are not explored. The reason it’s rushed is so they can introduce a new character, Juliet’s ex-boyfriend. He returns so he can make amends with her. Cue the jealous and the endless amount of clichés. Another disappointment is that Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee only get a brief scene together. Their relationship is left to one side; it would have been better if there were more interaction.

For a long period of time not much happens. We witness Max spying on Juliet in her apartment through peepholes he has created. Even on some occasions he has a look around when she isn’t in. Christopher Lee’s character sums it up for us and calls Max a pervert and you may feel like one when watching Hilary Swank undress herself and having a moment of pleasure. It continues with the absurd with laughable scenes that involve Max invading Juliet’s apartment. These scenes tried to be “creepy” but they end up being amusing.

After an uneventful second act we are lead into a pathetic and joyless confrontation. It’s a predictable and poorly filmed ending. You end up not caring for these characters; their stupidity is not worth our time.

Hilary Swank is way to good for this movie. She is let down by a truly awful script, sloppy direction and a lack of suspense. Shocking, not in a good way.