The Resident (film)

The Resident is a 2011 British thriller film directed by Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Swank stars as a recently single woman who rents an apartment in New York City and comes to suspect that someone is stalking her. The film also features a cameo from Hammer Films star Christopher Lee, in his first collaboration with the studio since 1976's To the Devil a Daughter and his last before his death in 2015.

The Resident
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAntti Jokinen
Produced bySimon Oakes
Cary Brokaw
Guy East
Nigel Sinclair
Written byAntti Jokinen
Robert Orr
Erin Cressida Wilson
StarringHilary Swank
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Lee Pace
Aunjanue Ellis
Christopher Lee
Music byJohn Ottman
CinematographyGuillermo Navarro
Edited byBob Murawski
Stuart Levy
Production
company
Hammer Films
Exclusive Media Group
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Icon Film Distribution
Release date
  • 29 March 2011 (2011-03-29)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Juliet Devereau (Hilary Swank), an emergency room surgeon, rents an apartment in New York City from Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Juliet has recently broken up with her boyfriend Jack (Lee Pace) after she caught him having an affair, but she still has feelings for him. Unbeknownst to Juliet, someone is stalking her, observing her from across the street and apparently entering her apartment.

At a party, Juliet bumps into Max and flirts with him. As they walk home, Jack follows them from across the street. Juliet attempts to kiss Max, but he pulls back. They later go on a date. A flashback reveals that Max is the one stalking Juliet. He has rebuilt her apartment to include secret passageways and a one-way mirror, which he can use to watch her.

Juliet breaks off her romantic relationship with Max because of her feelings for Jack. Max continues to observe Juliet and watches her and Jack have sex. Afterwards, he begins drugging Juliet's wine so he can be closer to her while she is unconscious. After oversleeping for the third time in two weeks, Juliet becomes suspicious that she may have been drugged and has security cameras installed in her room.

After a date with Juliet, Jack is attacked and injured by Max. That night, Max drugs Juliet and attempts to rape her while she sleeps, but she awakens and he flees after giving her an injection. The next morning, Juliet finds the cap from the hypodermic needle. At work she has her blood and urine analyzed and discovers high levels of Demerol and other drugs. She rushes back home and finds Jack's possessions there but no sign of him. A nightshirt of hers is in a location where she did not leave it. She checks the security camera footage and sees Max assaulting her.

Max enters her apartment and tries to get her to drink some wine, but she refuses. He then assaults her, attempting to stab her with a hypodermic. She gets away and locks herself in the bathroom, but Max breaks in through the bathroom mirror and pulls her into one of the secret passageways. During the process of trying to hide from Max she finds the corpse of Jack, who has been murdered by Max. In the end, Juliet fatally shoots Max in the head with a nail gun, and escapes.

Cast

Release

The film was shown in a limited number of American cinemas on 17 February 2011 and was then released direct to DVD in the United States on 29 March 2011.[1]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 35% of 31 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.55/10.[2] Cath Clarke of The Guardian rated the film 2/5 and called it "generic and intermittently silly".[3] Katherine Murphy of Trinity News said "The Resident is a voyeuristic thriller that never actually scares, thrills or excites."[4]

On the other hand, Nigel Andrews of The Financial Times gave the film 4 stars (out of 5) and praised Swank's performance.[5] Total Film were also fairly positive: "A sturdy cast and moody camerawork propel this taut, slow-simmering thriller out of the exploitation gutter; the gonzo psycho-killer climax drags it back in. Generic, yes, but gleeful with it".[6]

Novelization

A novelization of the film was written by Francis Cottam and published by Arrow Publishing in association with Hammer and the Random House Group in 2011, ISBN 978-0-09-955625-1.

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References
  1. Miska, Brad (11 January 2011). "Revised Trailer and February 17 Theatrical Date for Hammer Films' 'The Resident'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  2. "The Resident". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. Clarke, Cath (10 March 2011). "The Resident – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  4. Murphy, Katherine. "'The Resident' review". Trinity News. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  5. Andrews, Nigel (9 March 2011). "Film releases: March 10". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  6. McIntyre, Ken (9 March 2011). "The Resident". Total Film. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
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