Review: The Tenant

The Tenant (1976) **1/2
Director: Roman Polanski (who also starred and co-wrote the script)

(Polanski's legal troubles and alleged criminal activity aside...)

This was recommended to me as a "psychological thriller," and while I'll admit it was suspenseful and an interesting character study in paranoia and dementia, I just didn't like it. For a while, it seems like it might be a ghost story, but then maybe it's all in the guy's head? By the end, it all just feels confusing, frustrating, and pointless. The main character is a dull guy and his backstory is never revealed, so there's nothing to justify why he's slowly going insane. Having lived in a few apartments over the years, I identified with the annoyance of having weird, scary, and stupid people as neighbors. And they did drive me crazy... only not whacked-out, psycho-crazy for no good reason at all like the main character in this film.