Dr. Juliet Devereau (Hilary Swank) leaves her cheating boyfriend Jack (Lee Pace) after catching him in her bed with another woman. She decides to start anew and searches for her own apartment. She places her phone number on the bulletin board at the hospital where she works and soon receives a call from a gentleman who tells her there is an opening.
When she walks into the huge apartment she immediately believes it is out of her pay scale, but the owner Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) advises her it’s only $3400 a month. She asks if there’s a catch, but Max advises that other than paying the utilities there is none.
Soon she meets Max’s grandfather August (Christopher Lee) who is the only other tenant residing in the home. He’s a bit creepy and tells her that he’s a lonely. She feeling a bit awkward steers clear of him. Meanwhile, her and Max begin to hang out quite often. She finds him attractive and merely out of rebounding, she kisses him and they nearly make love. She pulls away at the last minute, advising she still isn’t over her ex. Max claims he understands and leaves. He attempts to play the nice guy and the friend and at first she’s very thankful for all of the help, but when she attempts to reunite with Jack, his presence becomes an unwelcome one.
Unbeknownst to her, Max had been stalking her for a long time. He saw her at the hospital while his grandfather was being treated. He became immediately obsessed and when he noticed her name on the board looking for an apartment, he contacted her. He had followed her and had been peeping on her since she moved in. When she made it clear she did not want to be with him, he began drugging her and raping her.
Juliet who was always punctual suddenly was oversleeping. She had the constant feeling as though someone was watching her and would often hear unexplained noises within her apartment. Sensing something wasn’t right, she installed video cameras to catch any motion. Soon, she witnesses firsthand what Max has done to her and the film concludes in an old fashion “good vs. bad” stand-off.
Despite the same movie has been done a hundred times before and in a hundred different ways, when done right the plot is always an interesting one. There is something interesting about seeing into the mind of a madman. Everything from Psycho, P2 and Fatal Attraction has successfully captured the essence of a person delving into madness where lust and love played a motivating factor.
Though “The Resident” doesn’t come close to “Psycho”, it does deliver the same caliber film as some of the lesser quality yet entertaining productions like “Enough,” “Sleeping with the Enemies” or “Disclosure.”
There are a few significant elements to “The Resident” which make it an appealing and believable film. The best decision made was
casting Hilary Swank in the lead. I often complain when a female character is placed into a position where she is forced to take on masculine qualities to illustrate strength. I refer to this as “Tomb Raider Syndrome.” Many who oppose horror movies from the past have criticized the damsel-in-distress cliché that was popular through the 80s. This is where a movie shows women in a completely helpless manner and then can only be saved by a big strong man. In the last decade or so, a new trend appeared which on the surface appeared as a positive move towards women. In films like the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake, women faced off against the bad guy toe-to-toe and often won. My issue is that though this stood on the platform of political correctness, it was another form of sexist bullshit. Female characters were not being portrayed as people but instead super heroes with super human strength. No longer did the women in productions wait for the police or try to outsmart the perpetrator – the cat and mouse game was over. Nor could they illicit normal human emotions. Rather than be afraid when a chainsaw wielding maniac was chopping of friends, the lead would make a snarky remark and be ready to fight the maniacs. It isn’t realistic and it hurts horror.
Viewers have had to sit through awful filmmaking and unbelievable characters. It has been a disaster. Few movies have been able to find a balance between the damsel and the no-nonsense tough chick who can’t be stopped. “The Resident,” however finds this balance magnificently. When Juliet believes she is being stalked, she’s scared and grabs a knife. She doesn’t walk out the door and scream “come get some.” When she finds out the magnitude of what has happened and that she had been raped, she cries showing true human sentiment. It isn’t an “I’m going to get this asshole,” moment. She reacts as any woman would – violated, scared, and confused.
Finally, when she is forced to go head-to-head with Max, she fights back and does whatever she can to win. She’s strong enough to do more damage than she had to simply to ensure he wouldn’t be getting back up.
On the downside, the film wasn’t developed enough. We didn’t know enough about Max’s past or his history with his grandfather. Though the movie delves briefly into his family history of insanity, a clear picture is never made. The production moves too fast.
Overall, it’s definitely worth a look. The acting is fantastic all the way around. Swank who always delivers great performances certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
