The Tenant

[BakuryuuTyranno]

Some actors end up performing the same act over and over. Technically, that's what makes this movie so great.

David Arquette has played a few reliable and charismatic but goofy characters. These trustworthy character traits would be great manipulating someone though. This movie is one of those movies where an outwardly-normal, but inwardly-dangerous person infiltrates the lives of people near them, like The Stepfather or maybe Single White Female.

Here, a family rents out a cottage to a novelist. What 3/4 of the family don't know, is one of the daughters has been seduced by the novelist, in actuality a paedophile who manipulates underage girls into loving him, then making them kill their family leaving them nowhere to return should they ever become released from his manipulations.

Most disturbingly, he has several other "wives" who have become genuinely affectionate to him.

What's really effective though Arquette is outwardly playing a similar character he did in Scream, Eight Legged Freaks etc - thoughs it ultimately a corruption of the archetype. But that the viewer already identifies him as the trustworthy type the family does, thus empathises with the parents.

Basically The Tenant is one of those movies that objectively is quite good, but in  content is so disturbing I wouldn't watch it again.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Not to be confused with the Roman Polanski film from 1976 with the same title, which is what I did, when I saw the subject line.

And I agree. The subject of paedophilia in film or book is most always disturbing and controversial.