Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Room for Rent’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

If there’s one unfortunate truth when it comes to our modern world, it’s that, tragedy is an inevitability. Something bad is going to happen somewhere in the world to someone or a group of people, and it will stun us when it hits the news, and while there is little we can do to change the act that has already occurred, we will most certainly break it down on the news and in our homes because tragedy also fascinates us, and with good reason. Because we are raised to believe and try to believe that the world is often a fine place and pushing toward something better and these darker moments, take us completely off guard and we want to understand how and why this happened.
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If anything, tragedy can sometimes remind us of the harsh reality that we are capable of great cruelty and anger and in our minds, it’s helpful to simply see the people that commit these acts as evil and nothing more. But the fact of the matter is, often times, people don’t just wake up evil or suddenly decide they want to harm others, there are mitigating factors that go into their decision to hurt their fellow man, and sometimes poor mental health is involved as well, and recently, I had the opportunity to watch a motion picture that takes the time to present tragedy and how a person can be driven to cause it, in raw and honest and heartbreaking light in Room for Rent.

Now in this particular motion picture, we are introduced to a woman named Joyce, who suddenly finds her life turned upside down when her husband of many years passes away unexpectedly. Because in the blink of an eye, she’s on her own, and she’s ill prepared to handle life without a husband who took care of her in the traditional sense. Which means, money is getting tighter, bills are piling up and hope is starting to fade, prompting Joyce to try something radical to say afloat, and she converts her home into a cozy Bed and Breakfast. At first this plan seems to be working pretty well, minus the fact that customers can sometimes be a pain, but everything takes a turn for the worse when young Bob moves into her home, and not for reasons one might think. For Bob is not the problem, instead his arrival and his good looks and bravado bring out the worst in Joyce and she latches onto her new tenant emotionally and her newfound connection, will spell trouble for both Bob and Joyce and anyone else who enters her home…

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So, it’s best I just come out and say this right now, Room for Rent is a magnificent motion picture. For not only does it harken back to the psychological thriller boom of the late 1990s, it really does add a fresh spin to the genre by humanizing the incredibly broken Joyce because we are privy to her complete downward spiral in this tale, and that’s just heartbreaking to say the least. Because you feel for Joyce from the get go, since she really is lost without her husband and struggling at every step and that’s what makes the terror so jarring because once Joyce breaks, you’re conflicted and you don’t know how to feel or think about what’s happening before your eyes and you hope that Joyce will snap out of it before things go too far because she genuinely is a nice lady with good intentions who simply loses her way.

But what’s truly impressive about this film, is the sheer fact that it offers up incredible depth when it comes to every single character present here and that’s honestly rare for a thriller. For more often than not, the people that come and go in a story such as this are merely fodder for the mad man or man woman, but here, everyone has a detailed backstory, and hopes and dreams and purpose and that oddly enough adds a frightening sense of realism to this tale since it feels as though you’re witnessing a slice of American life, and the only way to sell that kind of realism is to have a wonderful cast and every single actor in this film delivers a magnificent performance in their respective role, but while the supporting cast is strong and solid, it’s our lead that truly steals the show. For Lin Shayne is simply magnificent in the role of Joyce, and the vulnerability and fury that she displays in her performance is chilling and raw and it allows for the audience to fear Joyce because you genuinely have no idea what she is going to do next.

If anything, this is a thriller that I highly recommend, simply because it’s downright refreshing. Because most thrillers are predictable fare, but this one offers so much more. It’s human, it’s heartbreaking and it’s powerful to say the least because by the time the end credits roll you come to understand that everything you just witnessed revolves around a woman who firmly believes she’s finally taking control of her life, granted she goes about that in the worst ways imaginable, but that speaks to the harsh reality of the tragedy that populates our world. Because so many people who make hurtful choices feel as though there’s no other recourse and that they have to do this to make things right in their world and their mind and that allows for this film to give one pause and ponder upon the nature of cruelty and the wonder of treating others with an ounce of respect because who knows how many tragedies could be averted if the people that commit them, felt as though they matter.

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