Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Leofwine_draca THE TENANT comes as a dark and spellbinding surprise for a viewer who previously encountered Roman Polanski's REPULSION and found it somewhat overrated. THE TENANT has a similar feel, setting, and unnerving atmosphere to it, but it turns out to be much closer to the kind of film that I love to watch. It's a slow-burning suspense story all about the atmosphere and psychology of the situation, the kind of tale where you're never quite sure whether the protagonist is going mad or if there is indeed a conspiracy plot against him. Polanski does some very strong work here, both as director and as the everyman protagonist, playing an essential cypher for the viewer. There are some stark and violent moments but this is mainly about an evocation of unease, of the mildly sinister, and I found it worked a treat.

SnoopyStyle Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) is a meek bureaucrat in Paris. He rents an apartment whose previous tenant Egyptologist Simone Choule jumped out the window. She goes to the hospital to find Stella (Isabelle Adjani) with her friend Simone completely bandaged. His neighbor complains about his noisy party. There are strange things happening and he's getting paranoid about the other people in the building.There is a nice sense of impending doom. The whole movie is a series of slightly off situations. It feels Kafkaesque. Roman Polanski is not a good enough actor to bring out that intense paranoia or that disturbed frustration. The movie does ramble around and it needs a more compelling lead to take charge. It goes off in some maddening avenues. I actually don't like the dueling point of views between the real world and his perception. It would be better to stay only with his surreal visions until the final scenes.

avik-basu1889 'The Tenant' is a thriller directed by Roman Polanski which came out in 1976 and it is the 3rd and final film in his unofficial 'Apartments Trilogy'. A man named Trelkovsky moves into a new apartment in which the previous resident had committed suicide. He constantly gets told off by the owner and other neighbours for being too noisy. These constant restrictions and a sense of alienation and guilt breaks him and leads him to a state of manic paranoia.Let me just start this review by saying that this film just didn't work for me. I felt extremely disengaged and never did I ever find myself caring for the protagonist and believing his plight. There are many reasons for this. Let's discuss them one by one : 1. The script and the screenplay is very poorly written. The first 2 films in the 'Apartment Trilogy' namely 'Repulsion' and 'Rosemary's Baby' work brilliantly because the scripts in those films are far more craftily written where you find yourself caring for the characters. There are very rich subtexts to the paranoia suffered by the characters like sexual abuse/repression, social change and religion, etc. Many people will say there are themes at work in 'The Tenant' too like isolation, guilt, self-identity,etc. But I just didn't find myself interested at all due to the lack of believable aspects of the storyline. I haven't read the original novel that it is based on, but the storyline in the film didn't seem convincing at all. There is a relationship that builds between the protagonist Trelkovsky and a female character in the film which felt very awkward. The whole paranoia aspect which was so spectacularly done by Polanski in 'Repulsion' and 'Rosemary's Baby', just falls flat here and almost laughably so. The build to the ultimate payoff of the last 30 minutes is extremely underdeveloped and unconvincing and the movie failed to make me buy the fact that someone could actually get engulfed by paranoia and go mad for the reasons that are shown here. It all happens in a very sudden and rushed way. The climactic set piece is also very dumb.2. Roman Polanski is a great director, but acting is not his cup of tea. He completely fails to properly and convincingly portray this character Trelkovsky. He just doesn't have an on-screen presence and the subtlety to pull off a character who is slipping into a state of madness. The performances from the other actors also aren't anything remarkable.3. The sound mixing for this film is terrible. This film was shot in many different languages and in some of the scenes the overdubbing in English is extremely jarring and I was put off by the grotesque quality of the dubbing.There are a few set-pieces that work and which are actually creepy and the camera work in certain scenes is good, but apart from that I have nothing positive to say about this film.'The Tenant' is one of my least favourite Roman Polanski films. The paranoia and the descent into madness of the protagonist is not convincing at all. The characters are all very uninteresting. The themes don't have any impact on the viewer due to the sloppy nature in which they are treated in the screenplay. This was a hugely disappointing way to cap off the 'Apartment Trilogy'.

snicewanger This film should be listed as a cinema self help story called When Bad Movies Happen to Good Film Makers". Watching The Tenant is a bit like having to sit and listen to your brother-in-law explain why he once again has gotten fired from his latest job, only not quite as interesting. It's the third part of Polanski's apartment trilogy. It should be the third part of a Robot Monster and Plan 9 from Outer Space Trilogy.I saw The Tenant nearly 35 years ago and had quite frankly forgotten it. A close friend whose cinematic opinions I respect, got a copy of The Tenant on 16mm, recently and convinced me to view it with him. I got the same feeling watching it again as I would were I trapped in a dentist chair and having Lawrence Oliver keep asking me "Is it safe?"My friend loves the film and considers it a masterpiece of horror. I just say we should agree to disagree.I love Isabelle Adjani and I could watch a film of her just brushing her teeth, but even she isn't enough to lift the movie for me. Roman Polanski is a genuine artistic genius so I can easily forgive him a bit of egotistical self indulgence which The Tenant is. If you adore The Tenant as a landmark in the history of horror cinema- Why is it with Polanski you always find yourself saying film or cinema rather the movies or pictures? - anyway if you like it, well more power to you! I'll watch the Screaming Skull.