THE OCCUPANT : Monday 6th April 2020.

In these very trying and testing times for us all that has seen many cinema's, Odeon's, and movie theatres around the world close their doors for the foreseeable future because of the escalating threat of the COVID-19 Coronavirus taking an ever increasing hold on the world at large, many film and television productions halted in their tracks indefinitely, and new film releases pushed back to some future date when some sense of movie going normalcy is expected to resume, I have, needless to say, had to adapt to this new world order. And so with my usual Reviews of the latest cinematic releases being curtailed, instead I will post my Review of the latest release movies showing on Netflix until such time as the regular outing to my local multiplex or independent theatre can be reinstated.

In the last few weeks then, a number of new feature films have landed at Netflix - of which I review as below 'The Occupant'  which I saw from the comfort of my own home on Monday 6th April.

'THE OCCUPANT' is a Spanish thriller (overdubbed into English) Directed and Written by David and Alex Pastor, and is a Netflix Original film that was released on the streaming service on 25th March.

The film opens up with Javier Munoz (Javier Gutierrez), a middle aged suggest closer to retirement than not, former advertising executive being interviewed by a couple of young gun media types. We quickly learn that Javier has enjoyed a highly successful and well regarded career in the world of advertising and is able to boast many milestone campaigns. But now, sat in the interview room with two young bucks he is being looked down upon as washed up, no longer relevant, and out of touch. He is politely told that the job they are seeking to fill is for a young up and comer and that this job would be beneath him. Obviously feeling dejected he puts on a brave face and leaves. When he gets home he tells his wife Marga (Ruth Diaz) that the interview went well and and he'll expect to hear in a couple of weeks. The couple live with their early teenage son in a very lavish penthouse apartment with sweeping views out across Barcelona, Javier drives a BMW, and their son goes to a private school - all the trappings of his successful and monied career.

But, with no money coming into the household, Javier and Marga are forced to face reality. Marga takes a job as a retail sales assistant and Javier continues unsuccessfully on the interview circuit. They sell up their apartment, much to Javier's disgust and move into a smaller unit in a far less well to do area of the city. They also have to let their cleaner go, which Javier does one evening while driving her home in the pouring rain. The final straw comes when Javier asks her for the keys to his apartment, which she throws at him and storms out of the vehicle in tears and swears at him.

As the weeks pass, Javier is also forced to advertise his beloved BMW for sale. He takes a number of calls of enquiry but tells all would be buyers that the car has been sold already. One day after another unsuccessful interview, Javier is in the car park and kicks in the side passenger door repeatedly out of sheer frustration at not being able to land a job. He immediately is remorseful for the damage caused to his pride and joy and opening up the passenger door he comes across the set of keys that the cleaner had thrown at him previously. A plan hatches in his mind.

The next day, using the keys to his former apartment he enters through the underground car park for which he still has the clicker to activate the door, takes the lift up to level five and lets himself in. He pokes around the apartment to see how the new owners have furnished the place, opens up the fridge, sits on the sofa eating a bowl of cereal, plays music, uses the toilet and leaves. He repeats this process on numerous occasions thereafter, each time digging deeper into the lives of the new owners by accessing their home computer and looking up diary bookings, historical files, photographs and sundry correspondence. He learns that the new residents Tomas (Mario Casas), his wife Lara (Bruna Cusi) and their young daughter Monica (Iris Valles) were involved in a car accident in which Lara and Monica sustained non-life threatening head injuries a few years back as a result of his drink driving for which Tomas has enlisted in an AA group and has been sober for over a year now.

Javier, through Tomas's diary inserts learns that he has an upcoming meeting in a church and ventures there in an attempt to uncover more of his story. Tomas enters a back room, and is sighted by a lady who ushers him in too. Initially, ill at ease, Javier soon goes with the flow and takes a seat in the circular formation of chairs, directly opposite Tomas. Javier remains silent until the very end, when the convenor asks if anyone wants to speak before wrapping up the evening. Javier stands on his feet and introduces himself as being new to Barcelona, that he has tried unsuccessfully on four separate occasions to kick his drinking habit, and the group has given him the strength too start afresh with a renewed focus for which he offers his sincerest thanks. After the meeting Tomas introduces himself to Javier and tells him that they seem to share similar stories. The pair then head off to a local cafe for a coffee to get to know each other some more.

What follows is Javier slowly and stealthily finagling his way into Tomas's life through access to the family computer calendar, a somewhat opportunistic and nosey gardener who comes to a sticky end when he attempts to blackmail Javier, his crashed BMW trashed by his own hand to garner sympathy from Tomas and to get closer to Lara, an impromptu dinner meeting at Tomas's apartment to meet Lara, a Spanish champion rhythmic gymnast that he worked on a media campaign for a few years ago and is able to pull some strings to get Lara and Monica (who is a budding young gymnast herself) to meet during a training session, and a manufactured email sent by Javier to himself using Tomas's email on his smartphone saying that he had relapsed and was seeking Javier's help, which proves to be the final straw for Lara in what was already a fragile relationship. Javier also learns in a one on one conversation with Tomas that he is extremely allergic to peanuts, and if he even comes close to a single peanut, it would more than likely kill him.

Things come to a head with Tomas as Javier visits him at his offices (he is the Vice President of his father-in-laws trucking empire and is desperately unhappy there) and Tomas punches Javier repeatedly in the face for driving a massive wedge between him and Lara. This gives Javier the ammunition he needs to confront Lara with the 'truth' about her unhinged, back on the bottle husband (even though in reality he is not), and gain her sympathy. At all times Javier portrays the caring, kind hearted friend who Lara can call upon at anytime 24/7, and gradually she is being won over, as is Monica. Knowing that at some point Tomas will return to the apartment and in all likelihood create a stink with Lara, Javier gives Lara a bottle of pepper spray, which he has secretly laced with peanut essence, which she can use to defend herself.

And so inevitably that day comes and Tomas gets sprayed with that can of whoop ass and hits the deck almost immediately with anaphylactic shock. Lara calls Javier out of desperation, who just happens to be in the neighbourhood and comes round knowing exactly what to expect. He orders Lara into Monica's bedroom to shield the events from her daughter and not to come out while he calls the Police and an ambulance. Tomas shows signs of life, but Javier quickly suffocates him, expelling any life from his already ailing body.

We then fast forward a few months and Javier has a top job back at a successful advertising firm, he is driving a smart new saloon car, and is residing in a very plush house with Lara and Monica. Life is all good, and he has left his old life behind and has very successfully worked his way upward and into a new life, with a new ready made family with all the trimmings thanks very much. As for Marga, well she appears at Javier's new place of work one day and announces that she has worked out Javier's scam and is going to the Police. But Javier threatens to halt his sons trust fund and cast her and her son out on the street by selling the apartment she is living in which has his name on the deeds, and with the proceeds he will engage very, very expensive defence lawyers. Marga is beaten into submission, out of protecting the interests of herself and her son.

I have to say that I enjoyed 'The Occupant' more than I was expecting to. This has certain similarities to Bong Joon-ho's big time Oscar winner 'Parasite' in as much as here is a man trying to better his status in life by any means necessary, and ultimately succeeding, but, this is where the similarity ends. Whereas 'Parasite' has an intelligent script, deeply dark humour, style and substance, emotional weight, and a strong cast, 'The Occupant' barely scratches the surface of these attributes. That said Gutierrez gives a solid performance but the other characters sit on the periphery and are under cooked in terms of their contribution to Javier's motivations, or their own back stories which either don't exist or are barely touched on. The story though moves along at a fair pace, it certainly grips the attention, and the ending offers an unexpected twist as the good guy turned bad wins the day, gets the girl and drives off into the sunset seemingly content in his new life.

'The Occupant' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-