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The Tenant
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The Tenant

1976
Suspense/Thriller
Horror
2h 6m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 68.77% from 1822 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1822)
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Rated 08 Dec 2019
92
84th
Not a horror movie in the traditional sense, so don't go in expecting that. With its fragmented, ambiguous sense of logic, this story works best as an allegory of cultural xenophobia set in the microcosm of a run-down apartment complex. The final twist doesn't bear logical scrutiny but inspires an acceptable amount of existential dread.
Rated 23 Oct 2019
84
92nd
This is Kafkaesque, apparently - I should really read one of his books so I can properly understand what this means. I also hadn't realised that this was part of a loose trilogy; I liked the other two. My general ignorance notwithstanding, I really liked this. It perhaps works best as a surreal nightmare, filled with paranoia, isolation, weirdos and mental instability. I found it rather creepy and unnerving. It was really well made, as you might expect. Needed more Adjani, though. Worthy.
Rated 07 Oct 2007
84
81st
This completes Polanski's unofficial "apartment horror trilogy" and in my opinion, it's the best of them. Delightfully creepy in all the right places, with just a dash of black humor. The ambiguity is great: is it all a paranoid delusion, or is he the victim of an occult-like (Rosemary's Baby-style) conspiracy? In the end, both possibilities seem equally plausible. Polanski himself does a fine job in the lead role, although I can't help but wonder if someone else might have been a little better.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
76
62nd
In a similar vein to Rosemary's Baby (albeit of a lesser caliber), this is a neat psychological horror film. The pacing is a bit off and the sound mixing needs work, but the underlying tension and a few truly creepy scenes/images make this worthwhile.
Rated 10 May 2014
82
77th
It's not horror, it's not thriller, it's not comedy, it's an experience. A film that leaves you shaking, disturbed and uncomfortable and eventually makes you pancakes the next morning. Ok, that last part never happened but it might make me want to watch it again sometime cause I like pancakes.
Rated 26 Sep 2011
85
93rd
"Le locataire" is the final chapter in Polanski's unofficial trilogy of psychosexual apartment terror and although it's less accomplished than "Repulsion" and "Rosemary's Baby" that preceded it, it's still one of the freakiest, scariest and just plain entertaining things the Polish helmer has ever done. Polanski proves he's a decent actor as well as he takes over the leading role, while his camerawork and editing are typically masterful. The surrealist touches and macabre humor are delightful.
Rated 23 May 2011
67
25th
"The Tenant" is a strange film. I remember really liking it the first time I saw it but it's not as good in retrospect. The story is rather hard to decipher. That's not a bad thing, but I almost get the sense that there really is nothing to decipher. It's more of an experience. You're not really sure if Roman Polanski's character is going crazy or not. At times you even feel like you're going crazy. It's a film that not everyone will like. But I say to check it out at least once.
Rated 13 Aug 2008
93
89th
A brilliant mix of early Polanski's ideas and movies. Hallucination from beginning to end, a one man's descent into madness, a paranoid's most sublime fantasy or a chilling horror film, anyway you want to look at it, there's no denying that this sort of male version on Repulsion is absolutely essential viewing. Sure, the first hour may seem deadly slow by today's standards but the second act remains fascinating as events get weirder and weirder. Top of its kind.
Rated 04 Oct 2012
100
98th
I think this is the most perfectly-paced film I've ever seen. The way that it slowly, patiently transitions from unremarkable, kinda clunky (that dubbing) and low-key exploration of apartment-living in France in the '70s, into a surreal, highly ambiguous mix of intense emotional melodrama and skin-crawling, psychologically distressing paranoid thriller, gives me goosebumps, particularly during that indescribable denouement. This may be my favourite third act of all time. And that's saying a lot.
Rated 04 Mar 2012
5
99th
I first watched it when I was 18 and it had a huge impact on me. Eighteen years later, I watch it again, and it resonates even more. One of my favorite films of all time.
Rated 04 Oct 2010
78
89th
Some sound problems, but this is a genuine horror movie.
Rated 23 Jul 2009
88
91st
after torturing Deneuve and Farrow, it's time for Polanski to have a taste of his own medicine, and it works.
Rated 10 Feb 2012
68
55th
Polanski needed an actor to play a total weirdo that runs into even weirder happenings in an apartment complex. He chose himself for that role. Isn't that telling? One of Bruce Campbell's favorite movies.
Rated 16 Jan 2011
6
81st
In ranking The Apartment Trilogy, I'd place this between Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. The Tenant is, like the latter, kind of ridiculous at times, but never to a point where things become too unbelievable. And it's far more enigmatic and subtle.
Rated 14 Apr 2018
78
66th
A Kafkaesque nightmare wrapped in paranoia, loneliness, and alienation, Polanski's third city-dweller film is a slow build to insanity. I don't know if it would have been better without him in front of the camera, but he does bring a certain aspect of goofiness that makes everything feel more like a dark comedy rather than horror.
Rated 14 Mar 2014
86
88th
I love horror movies, yet I still have trouble pointing out why some scare the shit out of me and some don't. The Tentant belongs firmly to the first category. Polanski used a minimal of means: most of the action takes place in a small appartment, there are no significant sfx and - as I remember it - not too much lighting either. Which leaves me to conclude the scariness is mostly due to Polanski's talent for creating an uneasy and creepy atmosphere rife with antagonistic tension.
Rated 14 Oct 2009
90
96th
After re-watching it I must say it is actually one of his most perfect and brilliant films. It works on so many levels. I love the fact that Polanski could actually make the most inteligent and scary horrors if he only wanted to.
Rated 07 Apr 2008
90
88th
Extremely well shot in my opinion. Enigmatic and alluring. Not quite as strong as Repulsion, but I'd definitely recommend it.
Rated 26 Jun 2008
90
94th
Polanski working out his demons in a fantastically terrifying suspense film. He gives a superb performance and combined with the creepy visuals and the score the film manages to build a wonderful suspense that keeps you guessing as to what's in his head and what is real.
Rated 01 Dec 2013
95
93rd
The epitome of Polanski's exploration of the psychological horror and paranoia living within cramped apartment life. It starts out unassuming and maybe a little dull, but soon unravels into a beautifully haunting, disorienting portrait of urban terror.
Rated 30 Nov 2014
75
75th
A very slow build up to a nice finale.
Rated 21 Dec 2009
93
91st
Not for everyone. This nasty little paranoid film is also a profound meditation on the nature of identity in a lonely alienated world. Polanski's best screen performance.
Rated 22 Feb 2011
78
88th
Polanski has an impeccable sense for nauseating paranoia and subtle urban trashiness that makes his apartment trilogy both scary and funny, sickening and delightful, heartbreaking and lighthearted, and overall an astonishing, inspiring experience. (I'm writing this monologue here because The Tenant is the last film from the trilogy that I saw). This one isn't as great as Repulsion or Rosemary, but it's wonderful and dripping with kafkaesque illness. Roman is perfectly sweet and crazy.
Rated 09 Feb 2020
0
1st
directed by a convicted rapist who fled the country to avoid jail time.
Rated 30 Mar 2007
60
47th
Polanski remakes _Repulsion_ in color starring himself. Interesting conceit but, still, been there, done that
Rated 12 Feb 2010
75
80th
Creepy, bloody and darkly, The Tenant is not Polanki's best, but it's certainly his most bizarre film.
Rated 15 Jan 2020
5
93rd
Dysphoria, claustrophobia. Mental and spatial, if there even is any distinction. On what terms do mind and body coalesce, and how much of a person's identity is dictated by their environment? There is some sort of strange cyclical, cosmic, omnipresent spacetime at work here, just as in Don't Look Now, The Shining, Twin Peaks. The sound mix is sloppy and a few of the performances are stiff, but this film pays off in surreal spades of imagery and mood.
Rated 30 May 2020
70
59th
Under Quarantine Film Reviews #109: I find it more terrifying that Polanski was more into his drag persona than Isabelle Adjani. He was mad creepy though, I'll give him that.
Rated 03 Jan 2014
6
83rd
the final film in the apartment trilogy is probably my least favourite, but it's still an awesome work of horror, using the apartment as a metaphor for the claustrophobia of mental illness. this one in particular delves into the long history of films ala persona in making people turn into other people. polanski is a good actor as well as director.
Rated 23 Jun 2007
73
79th
Very well-made and has a creepy atmosphere, but eventually disappoints. Some of the stuff late in the movie really walks the line between bizarre in a spooky way, and just sort of silly. I like Polanski's performance though, and Adjani has an incredibly arousing mouth.
Rated 14 Mar 2014
70
50th
The last of Polanski's claustrophobic "apartment trilogy". The themes start to run thin this time around. The mental deterioration is stronger in Repulsion, and the paranoia is much more real and sensible in Rosemary's Baby. Though Roman Polanski does a fantastic job as the lead, the story is ridiculous and not remotely believable. To say Trelkovsky overreacts would be an understatement, especially considering he is otherwise sane. The Tenant is redundant, and indeed a little bit stupid.
Rated 27 Sep 2023
70
66th
Didn’t know Polanski was such a good actor. Especially in the first half (before he goes a little bananas) i quite loved the character. Realistic and recognizable behavior in some very good scenes. Initially intriguing but later a mostly hokey film, sagging under the weight of a poor cast with dated mannerisms. Apartments are hell, look at what it did to this poor fellow!
Rated 16 Jan 2012
70
67th
It was full of great camerawork, magnificent and creepy imagery and an overall feeling of unease. It's my least favourite of the 'trilogy' that also includes Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary's Baby (1968), but I'd say it's still very much worth watching.
Rated 09 Feb 2016
87
98th
Rated 09 Dec 2009
90
94th
null
Rated 14 Dec 2008
55
12th
I'm not quite sure what to think about this movie. It has some great moments. But there are also some boring parts, and parts I just don't like.
Rated 18 Aug 2010
5
80th
I'm such a sucker for these sort of endings.
Rated 02 Sep 2009
82
62nd
Really enjoyed this - you can see what's happening all the way through and it suffers from its cinematic successors but it's still extremely well done and balances the psychological/actual terror well. Genuinely creepy.
Rated 20 Jan 2009
7
67th
The weakest of his "Apartment Trilogy" but still very good. The end occasionally walks the line of being both creepy and a bit silly, but overall the tension and strangeness is built effectively. Polanski's pretty good in this, too.
Rated 03 Mar 2017
90
92nd
quifilmaodaporra
Rated 27 Jan 2009
80
81st
I would say, it's an early mindfuck flick.
Rated 06 Aug 2017
60
47th
It started very promising, and it delivered in the small pieces in between. But for such a masterful buildup, I was a bit let down by the ending.
Rated 11 Feb 2014
66
27th
A horror movie that's rarely scary and offers hardly any psychological insight, on top of being relatively without style. Polanski does well as the abused every-man and the film takes some odd paths towards in the last third, at least making it a more entertaining spectacle to watch.
Rated 02 Mar 2008
74
58th
# 512
Rated 30 Nov 2007
84
89th
People staring from the toilet window opposite is one of the eeriest idea in the film.
Rated 30 Oct 2008
83
79th
Polanski delivers good horror with a decent performance in the lead. It takes some time to get to the horror though.
Rated 15 Dec 2016
88
49th
I gave this an 88 and Repulsion an 86 only because this film was a little less boring. Both were just too weird for the sake of weird but with no real purpose that I could discern.
Rated 28 Apr 2016
61
7th
A real chore to watch. A chore and a bore. The plot seems very poorly conceived. Who is this Trelkovsky suppposed to be and why should we want to watch such a boring, introverted, closed off fellow rent an apartment, invite obnoxious friends over, find a tooth in a wall, and descend into a sort of paranormal identity-theft insanity? There's just not enough motivation or basis in reality for me want to see two hours of this. The fun parts would fit into a 10-minute edit with room to spare.
Rated 08 Jun 2019
100
84th
Great Polanski that sat in my collection unwatched for years. Then I watched it. Then I slapped myself. Creepy masterpiece.
Rated 27 Mar 2012
73
66th
Creepy.
Rated 19 Apr 2024
80
71st
Rated 08 Dec 2011
76
39th
The worst of polanski's Apartment Trilogy and by far the least coherent and consistent. It's also fairly self indulgent on his part. That said, it still has its this-is-where-I-slap-a-child-outta-the-blue moments though. I sinisterly cheered during the "doubletap" payoff. Does that make me weird?
Rated 15 Mar 2021
75
64th
Polanksi thought apartment living was so scary that he went back to that well three times. Maybe apartments are scarier in Europe. Also like reading Ebert's review where he decided to just write about the entire ending. Like, spoiler alert, am I right? Isabelle Adjani is in this for, maybe, ten minutes, but she is so spellbinding.
Rated 21 Jul 2013
88
77th
Awesome psychological thriller. Tense film that builds up to a truly great finale. Well acted and beautifully shot.
Rated 13 Feb 2020
90
90th
I love the details like how at the beginning the concierge twice nudges Trelkovsky forward while they're looking out the window. Also, the first night he fully dresses as Simone, the camera pans to the window across the street while ominous music plays, but nobody is standing there; he's satisfied his neighbors for the time being so they don't bother him. Ebert was dead wrong giving this only one star
Rated 19 Dec 2008
62
24th
765
Rated 16 Nov 2022
36
1st
yall have the absolute worst taste. this is a shitty b-movie script combined with arthouse pacing
Rated 27 Jul 2013
63
28th
The problem with The Tenant for me was that it seemed like the film only became thrilling about a half hour before the end. I thought maybe after the church scene it would pick up, but it really didn't. I think if the whole film had the intensity of the end, I would have liked it a lot more. I was kind of conflicted on Polanski also at times his acting was good, but at others sketchy.
Rated 12 Jan 2015
90
96th
Apartmanın her dairesi kiracının beyninde bir delik
Rated 18 Apr 2024
60
38th
Rated 15 Nov 2013
82
82nd
Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby and then this one, The Tenant, are the three Polanski films that will always stick out in my mind. The final act is definitely worth the wait.
Rated 29 Sep 2007
20
2nd
Just freakin terrible. Not sure which was worse for Polanski--the acting or the directing.
Rated 12 Dec 2009
83
82nd
Unique, bizarrely cast horror film. Critically drubbed upon release but a latter-day cult item. Fine photography by Sven Nykvist.
Rated 19 Apr 2024
50
27th
Rated 30 Oct 2020
80
55th
If only Polanski had actually thrown himself out of a window.
Rated 16 Mar 2014
82
83rd
Polanski channels Hitchcock to create possibly the worst apartment ever.
Rated 04 Jan 2013
84
79th
83.500
Rated 10 Aug 2022
93
87th
If you cut off my head, what would I say... Me and my head, or me and my body? What right has my head to call itself me?
Rated 05 May 2020
65
33rd
With all the excellent reviews this movie has gotten I was expecting a lot more. It's a good movie, entertaining at least, but I can hardly see what all the fuss is about. Perhaps it was groundbreaking at the time it was made?
Rated 06 May 2013
80
18th
Another that I admire and appreciate more than I like. I desperately WANTED to like this the way I liked Rosemary's Baby, but Polanski remains a bit hit-or-miss for me.
Rated 28 Apr 2020
66
41st
It felt a bit like I was watching Repulsion again, but with a lot more dialogue and a theme of gender identity horror?
Rated 10 Jan 2010
97
97th
Ao fim do filme, fica-se temporariamente refém da mesma paranoia de Trelkovsky. Aqueles que vivem em condomínios são os mais afetados, certamente. Uma bela prova da capacidade de Polanski em criar monstros a partir de premissas aparentemente simples. Gênio.
Rated 13 Aug 2014
80
81st
watched: 2014, 2021
Rated 06 Aug 2009
72
54th
Le locataire: 8 // 7 // 8 // 7 // 8 // 7 // 6
Rated 12 Nov 2011
65
57th
Overall Enjoyment: 20/40, Plot/Themes: 15/20, Cinematography/Direction: 15/20, Acting/Writing: 15/20 A different sort of horror with a slow burn psychological suspense approach. It was well done, but similar to the more well done Rosemary's Baby.
Rated 28 Jan 2007
92
91st
Tinha esquecido o quanto esse filme é engraçado, especialmente na meia hora final - tinha esquecido também que o Polanski poderia ser pai do Mathieu Amalric devido a semelhança. Na Darkflix TV.
Rated 11 Aug 2010
65
26th
Hasn't dated very well. Reminded me a bit of an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Rated 24 Sep 2008
78
82nd
Dark. Polanski reminds me a lot of Argento here.
Rated 30 Nov 2010
40
97th
"The Tenant isn't so much a psychological portrait of grief as it is an unnerving acknowledgement of the ambiguous nature of the world." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 12 Aug 2013
75
89th
Surreal madness.
Rated 30 Dec 2017
84
80th
2022'de #IzlediğimFilmler ; 141. Le locataire (1976) Ölümsüz klasik. Üzerine saatlerce tartışılacak malzeme bırakan, harika 3'lemenin başarılı halkası.
Rated 08 Feb 2008
98
99th
This is one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. This is Poe-like horror transformed into movie form. Incredible.
Rated 21 May 2009
60
85th
It is tempting to see Polanski's black comedy of urban paranoia as a companion piece to his _Repulsion_, only in the masculine gender, with Polanski himself playing the fretful, pitiful little hero. Really, though, it has as much in common with Neil Simon's _Prisoner of Second Avenue_. The main similarity between the two Polanskis is in the mechanical -- and very skillful -- management of fright gimmicks.
Rated 18 Oct 2011
83
74th
83.000
Rated 19 Oct 2009
85
95th
Very Nice Movie
Rated 08 May 2008
70
67th
I loved the experience of watching it. The best description i can think of is "spooky Last tango in Paris". It aged a bit but it is still worth seeing.
Rated 29 Mar 2018
95
83rd
I can't believe I haven't rated it yet!
Rated 28 Apr 2008
85
84th
Very similar to Rosemary's Baby, in the way it so patiently build up the (psychological) terror. One of Polanski's most spellbinding films.
Rated 21 Aug 2007
78
53rd
una pelicula de polanski.... buena pieza... veanla
Rated 31 Dec 2022
75
57th
My hopes were sky high for this given that Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion are two of my favorite movies. Given those expectations, I'm quite disappointed, though it's still a pretty good movie overall. I kind of hated Polanski's performance in this. With a different lead actor this might have worked a lot better for me. It's exquisitely crafted. Definitely the weakest of the informal Apartment/Paranoia Trilogy and kind of feels like a poor man's Rosemary's Baby. Good, though.
Rated 26 Jun 2012
75
75th
some pretty spooky stuff, indeed. I like the idea and all, and its quite well-executed for the most part. the weak acting drags it down quite a bit unfortunately.
Rated 11 Dec 2009
71
50th
An uneven but fascinating black comedy. The urban paranoia is rendered with great force, but Polanski miscast himself.
Rated 30 Nov 2011
73
46th
#538
Rated 26 Sep 2011
80
57th
The final third of Polanski's apartment trilogy continues the psycho-sexual themes and adds a dash of comedy and camp. Kind of the anti-Rosemary's Baby, where the paranoia alone is enough to self-destruct the protagonist.
Rated 07 Sep 2021
43
25th
Seen: 2. There are some oddly funny moments, and some solid psychological mystery. But the movie drags for long stretches with very little happening, and the payoff just isn't good enough.
Rated 15 Jun 2013
79
91st
Rear Window meets Psycho. (meets Mulholland Drive?) Almost better than Rosemary's Baby. Almost...

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