Room for Rent

This is a movie along the lines of Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? with the main character, a little old lady, going a bit daft and getting dangerous. This is much better though. It grabbed me soon into it and had me squirming a couple of times. This little old lady is freshly widowed and when she finds out that her husband borrowed money and spent the money they had she decides to open her home as a BnB. She soon has a hunky lodger under whose spell she falls. Too bad for him.

I like indie films, this is just a human piece... no action, gore, heavy drama, e.t.c. Just human nature. Linn shaye is always a winner for me, even in her lesser films, she's phenomenal. The human psyche is fascinating and watching her mentality be explained slowly was enjoyable.

Upon the death of her husband, an older woman is put in the position of needing to find a way to take care of herself financially. She opens her home as a bed and breakfast and soon becomes attached to one of her guests.

So, this isn't a bad film but there's not much to be said about it. It is a psychological thriller but there isn't much thrill to it at all. The creepy factor is there and you wonder what is coming next but there is no real climax. You are just stuck watching a slow but steady deterioration of a woman's mental state but the bang isn't there and the viewer is left feeling unsatisfied.

If you are ok with the pace and the lack of a climax, check it out. If you can't stand those things, you probably should pass this one up.

Lin Shaye has long been one of the hardest working and most underappreciated character actresses out there. Even if you don't know her name, you'd recognize her face and Room For Rent appears to be the first time she's been tasked with headlining a film all by herself and she proves to be more than up for the challenge.

After her husband's death, a painfully awkward widow (Shaye) is left penniless and decides to open up her spare room for guests. A handsome younger man takes her up on the offer and, in no time at all, she's snooping through his things, using his toothbrush and deodorant (in a comically creepy scene), and dressing up in a provocative manner to entice him. She's not going to let this one go and she'll fix anyone who gets in the way.

Room For Rent is low on style and scares, but there's a true human element to the story that many films of this type miss out on. The concept and material wouldn't feel out of place as an afternoon movie on the Lifetime network (and the production values are about the same), but Shaye's performance and a few disturbing touches keep it just barely out of those swampy waters.

Unfortunately, a lot of the other actors aren't up to Shaye's level and the film does suffer because of this. Some of the dialogue doesn't always help as in one scene where a group of young punks terrorize her on her way back home. No one in this scene resembles a real human being (even Shaye suffers during this bit) and one wonders why it's even in the film since these kids are only in two scenes and never heard from again. One wishes Shaye would have taken a kitchen knife to them at least.

A lonely widow, Joyce ( Lin Shaye ) decides to rent out her spare rooms to get out of some financial trouble left to her by her late husband. She eventually rents a room to a drifter who may have a shady past. Joyce a fan of Romance novels starts fantasizing about her new tenant, and if things don't go her way, she will make it go her way by any means possible even if it's rather creepy. So what worked?

• Lin Shaye is excellent in this role, making you feel empathy for her character even when she is going down the darkest of paths. A great performance that is frail but fearsome . Unpredictably manipulative , but still making you want to root for her in some fashion
• The script aswell takes you on a journey with her character, expertly playing with your emotions towards her character. Kudos too, for not spoon feeding the audience with all the back story for certain events or characters, leading the viewers to fill in some blanks, but not to the point where it's unsatisfying or confusing .

-Confidently directed with great use of light and shadow. Great camera work and a growing sense of tension

What could have been better?

• The story itself is somewhat predictable and you can see certain events coming a while off

-I'm not sure if i quite bought the 'Sarah' character, whose motivations for snooping around seemed somewhat flimsy

Overall a solid drama / thriller that has shades of Fatal attraction & single white female. Lead by a great turn by Shaye