The once successful, Javier (Gutiérrez) is finding it hard to find a job in a fast-changing society. Unemployed and tight in budget, he was forced to give up his luxuries including his apartment which is now being occupied by a young and successful executive, Tomás (Mario Casas) and his family. Little do they know though, that Javier still possesses the keys to their apartment giving him access to their private lives and wholly revealing their weaknesses to him.
There is obviously a clear tension between Javier and Tomas in "The Occupant" but somehow this power play remains one-sided as Javier poetically becomes an omnipotent deity of the story with near-divine power to manipulate his situation and keep himself ahead from the others.
That's what intriguing with "The Occupant", besides being a feeble version of Parasite, it bestows control of the narrative over to its character rather than on the plot it navigates.
This turns "The Occupant" off for me as it becomes a narrative with no intention to challenge the plot or shift the control of the narrative, eventually weakening its side characters and reducing them to disposable plot devices, as they no longer pose threat or harm.
Surely, "The Occupant" would profit for its similarities to Parasite. But as Bong Joon Ho's movie was able to articulate its message on social standing, David and Àlex Pastor film scuffle to develop a compelling character study of a man's obsession with superficial success.
"The Occupant" is a good one-time watch film and is sadly just another Netflix original that will be forgotten soon.
2/5
