“The Roommate” uses plausibility to thrill and scare

By Juliana Hoft
Staff Writer

Going off to college is scary enough; imagine what it would be like if your roommate went crazy. “The Roommate” very realistically captures this nightmare, and anyone looking for a thrill or scare should make an effort to see this movie.

The appeal of the “The Roommate” comes in its surprises and thrills. Not only is the movie a real thriller, but its realistic nature causes the events to be even scarier. No supernatural incidents ever happen.

Sara (Minka Kelly) is assigned a roommate named Rebecca (Leighton Meester) when she goes off to college. However, she doesn’t know that Rebecca is bipolar and mentally unstable. Rebecca begins to obsess over Sara and is overly protective of her with people that appear to cause her harm.

Rebecca acts as normally as possible toward Sara so she won’t suspect anything. The main priority in Rebecca’s life is to be Sara’s only friend, and she engages in crazy, violent acts to achieve this goal. Sara tries to distance herself as the movie progresses, but this creates dangerous conflicts with Rebecca.

This movie is scary because it takes a normal life event, such as going to college, and turns it into a horrifying event. The movie is very disturbing. Sara gives Rebecca earrings to wear in one scene, not knowing that Rebecca doesn’t have her ears pierced. In order to please Sara, Rebecca proceeds to stab her earlobes with the earrings.

Meester’s acting in this movie is very impressive. She has taken a step up from her role in Gossip Girl, and this performance is more difficult and deep than that of a “rich girl” from New York. Her performance makes the movie much better than it would have been without her.

Kelly’s acting wasn’t as good as it could have been, however. Kelly is whiny and irritating as the unsuspecting and then horrified victim of Rebecca’s disturbing behavior..

There are several unrealistic parts in this movie. Movie-goers recognize Rebecca’s bipolar personality sooner than Sara does, and it seems unrealistic that no one would try to warn Sara about Rebecca’s strange behavior. In addition, someone as mentally deranged as Rebecca would probably be incapable of attending college.

“The Roommate” is worth seeing if one enjoys thrills. It is playing in most theaters and can be seen at the Arclight Theater in El Segundo. It is rated PG-13.