The Tenant
Movie, 1976, Named by critics, Set in Third in the trilogy
The Tenant is #11 of 48 in release order and #6 of 48 in chronological order in the Spiritual Trilogies.
The story
A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
The Tenant recap
Trelkovsky, a shy clerk of Polish origin, rents a Paris apartment whose last tenant, Simone Choule, threw herself out of its window. He visits her in hospital, where she lies bandaged and lets out a terrible scream, and meets her friend Stella there. Simone dies. The neighbours and the landlord, Monsieur Zy, complain about every noise he makes and press him to join a petition against another tenant. He finds a tooth in a hole in the wall and sees neighbours standing motionless in the shared toilet across the courtyard. A local cafe insists on serving him Simone's usual order and her brand of cigarettes. After a burglary, Trelkovsky grows feverish and paranoid, wakes wearing makeup, buys a wig and shoes, and begins dressing in Simone's clothes, convinced the building is turning him into her so he will kill himself too. Roman Polanski plays Trelkovsky in the final chapter of his Apartment Trilogy.
The Tenant ending explained
Trelkovsky jumps from the window twice and ends up bandaged in Simone's hospital bed. Dressed as a woman, he leaps from the window as he imagines the neighbours watching like a theatre audience. He survives, crawls back upstairs and jumps again. In hospital, wrapped in bandages exactly as Simone was, he sees himself and Stella arrive at his bedside, and lets out the same scream she did, closing a loop in which he has become the tenant before him.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Tenant
The Tenant is streaming on Kanopy and Hoopla in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 85%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Parallax View, before All the President's Men.
- Chronological order: after Rosemary's Baby, before Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
Cast
- Roman Polanski as Trelkovsky
- Isabelle Adjani as Stella
- Melvyn Douglas as Monsieur Zy
- Jo Van Fleet as Madame Dioz
- Bernard Fresson as Scope
- Shelley Winters as Concierge
- Lila Kedrova as Madame Gaderian
- Claude Dauphin as Husband at accident
- Claude Piéplu as Neighbour
- Rufus as Georges Badar
- Romain Bouteille as Simon
- Gérard Jugnot as Office Clerk
Directed by Roman Polanski.