Dorm-bound freshmen with random room assignments undoubtedly experience some level of anxiety when meeting their roommate for the first time. After all, the person with whom you share such small quarters for an entire year needs to be someone you can tolerate, and maybe even look forward to seeing every day. Will he or she be normal? Fun? A partier? A bookworm?
The newly released film ""The Roommate"" depicts this exact scenario to the extreme. Minka Kelly plays Sara Matthews, a college freshman who doesn't know anyone at her new college, and is randomly assigned a roommate. Unfortunately for Sarah, her roommate Rebecca, played by Leighton Meester of ""Gossip Girl"" fame, turns out to be anything but normal.
In the beginning of the movie, Sara moves into her dorm and waits for her roommate to arrive. After a few hours pass without anyone showing up, Sara decides to spend the night out with newly acquainted friends from down the hall. When Sara returns to her dorm, drunk and clumsy, she meets Rebecca. Over the next few days the two girls bond over daily activities and forge what appears to be a normal friendship. But as days turn into weeks, Rebecca starts to exhibit strange behaviors.
Rebecca quickly becomes obsessive over Sara, calling her incessantly when she doesn't come home at a certain time, and takes drastic measures to ensure that she is Sara's only friend. As the movie progresses, more and more cringe-worthy scenes come into play. In the theater, audience members shriek in horror as Rebecca carries out the unfathomable in order to secure Sara as her best friend. Rebecca also begins to copy things about Sara. She gets the same tattoo and later dies her hair dark brown.
""The Roommate"" will not disappoint college students, as it is relatable and fast-paced. I went to see this movie with my actual roommate, which made the movie experience all that more frightening. I began to have flashbacks, like when my roommate bought a pair of leather boots that looked just like mine. Or the time she called me when I didn't come home at 2 a.m. Was it all a ploy? During the movie, I would occasionally glance over at my roommate, wondering if she was getting ideas.
The film's plot keeps viewers on their toes with the originality of Rebecca's schemes. Just when it appears Sara is finally alone, the camera changes focal points to show Rebecca watching in the background. There's a cliché shower scene that most audiences have seen time and again in old thriller movies, yet it still creates a frightening effect.
Yet although the movie keeps you on edge, the plot is somewhat predictable. When Sara tells Rebecca her fashion professor crossed the line and kissed her, it is no surprise Sara has a different professor the next day. This becomes a theme: Anyone who crosses Sara or threatens Rebecca's friendship suffers a similar fate.
Meester plays an astonishingly convincing sociopath. Her use of strange body movements and stalker behavior give off constant creepy, forboding vibes. Kelly, on the other hand, gives a mediocre performance. At times it feels like she's putting more effort into appearing pretty than afraid, especially during the climax. Like Kristen Stewart's performance in the ""Twilight"" series, Kelly comes off as corny and contrived, especially in scenes where Sara is supposedly bonding with Rebecca.
Overall, the movie falls short of a true thriller, failing to startle its audience as Rebecca spins her devious web to keep Sara all to herself. I only jumped once during the whole film. Without Meester's performance, ""The Roommate"" would have only been a mild success. But with Meester, it is great to watch the drama unfold.
