It’s time to rely once again on the wild card of quality that is the Netflix original movie. The Occupant (“Hogar” in its original Spanish) is the tale of one down-on-his-luck advertising executive, Javier (Javier Gutiérrez), and his obsession with his former home and the family that now lives there. As the film progresses, Javier spirals further and further, stalking and manipulating the family, eventually culminating in a violent confrontation.
The strongest aspect of The Occupant is its cinematography. It is extremely well shot, something that elevates its fairly standard thriller narrative. The camera movement, especially, enhances what would otherwise be boring shot-reverse-shot conversation scenes. The camera also knows when to stay still, lingering on the action in some of the film’s tensest moments. Additionally, the film features several uniquely framed shots, making scenes more visually interesting by shooting conversations in mirrors and at steep angles. The film is truly suspenseful, aided by good editing and great performances.
The drawbacks of The Occupant mostly lay in its writing and pacing. At the start of the film, there is a very quick escalation of Javier’s behavior. This quick jump from mildly sinister surveillance to breaking and entering and dog murder is something of a red flag in terms of pacing, but after those scenes it is thankfully a smooth ride to the climax. The other central issue is the writing of the main character, Javier. He is unlikable and hard to relate to. Main characters certainly don’t need to be likable or relatable, but we have to keep watching for some reason. The film continually introduces elements to alienate the viewer from Javier, which, again, isn’t an inherently poor choice on the part of the filmmakers. However, several plot points are introduced near the start of the final act of the film that make it incredibly difficult to empathize with him on any level. When you find yourself actively rooting against the main character, without even the slightest bit of empathy or even sympathy, something somewhere has gone wrong.
The film that The Occupant most obviously lends itself to comparison to is 2019’s Parasite. Both films are about outcasts from society attempting to insert themselves into the lives of the wealthy, and both films, weirdly, feature plot-relevant food allergies. They also both go to great lengths to capture the living spaces of their characters. One could be tempted to dismiss this The Occupant as a knock-off of Parasite, but the two films are actually thematically very different. While Parasite focuses more on the dynamics between the working class and the wealthy, The Occupant is more about the dynamic between the wealthy and the formerly wealthy. Javier feels entitled to his former apartment, to the life, stability, and status it represents, because it was something he used to have. He does not believe that its new tenet, Tomás (Mario Casas), deserves the life he lives, and intends to take it from him. He refuses to live a life without the privilege he has grown used to. Javier is far harder to root for than the protagonists of Parasite.
The Occupant is a tale of privilege and entitlement. Javier does terrible things to people he supposedly cares about, all because he believes he deserves to live a life of wealth and luxury. The film asks its viewer to interrogate the things they envy, what they represent, and what the viewer would do to take them if they were within their grasp. The Occupant is a suspenseful and engaging thriller, available now on Netflix for your quarantine viewing pleasure.
3.5/5 STARS