Os Inquilinos (2009)

English title: The Tenants.

A working class family's routine is disturbed by the arrival of three new tenants next door. There is a growing suspicion that they lead a criminal life. The tenants are imposed on the house's owner, an elderly man, by his ex-wife, who shares ownership of the house.

A film with an interesting plotline and which is harmed, but perhaps not completely ruined, by silly psychological and sociological characterizations on several occasions. The film seems to want to make a statement about what he expects from his main character, and which the latter cannot fulfill. In interviews the director claims nonpartisanship and absence of manicheism, in very contradictory terms. The film is a variation on Straw Dogs, examining the alternative to that film's development. It is based on a short story which can be read online (in Portuguese).

Rating:46