When a helicopter carrying Abby (Ella Balinska, Run Sweetheart Run, Resident Evil), a British geologist working in a remote part of Georgia, crashes in the Caucasus mountains, she is forced to contend with harsh conditions in order to make it home. Her only companion is Jim (Rob Delaney, Deadpool & Wolverine), a mysterious voice on the other end of her radio.
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While that sounds like a straightforward set up, the reality of her situation is much deeper and more complicated than it appears on the surface. Starting with Ella’s motivations. Twice in the opening moments of the film, it hints or directly demonstrates her emphasis on ethics in her approach to geology. Yet here she is, scrounging to find nuclear material for parties with dubious interests. What drives her is money to fund an experimental treatment for her cancer-ridden sister, though her actions may not be as altruistic as they seem.
This kind of presentation then subversion runs throughout The Occupant and is the primary narrative focus of the script from Keijzer, Philip M. Howe, Roelof-Jan Minneboo, and Xiao Tang. It looks like Ella is doing this nice thing for her sibling, but running off to far-flung corners of the globe is much more selfish as she ignores the wishes of her dying sister, who just wants to spend what little time she has with her loved ones. Initially, Jim seems like an encouraging presence, a lifeline, but that may or may not be the case. On the job, Ella makes a noteworthy find. We presume it’s related to the task at hand, but it’s much more obtuse and enigmatic.
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At every step, the film takes something familiar, something we’ve seen before, only to disrupt audience expectations. On one hand, it’s a fight to survive, on the other, it’s a much more surreal, hallucinatory, and esoteric journey. Is any of this real, or are we witnessing Ella’s breakdown as she faces imminent death at the hands of the frigid elements? For her part, Balinska sells all of this. She’s driven and practical at the same time she’s fueled by unbearable grief and frantically unravelling. Whatever the circumstances—with her sister, when it comes to finding her way back to civilization—she refuses to quit, no matter if everyone else has given up. And since this is primarily Balinska alone in the mountains, nothing else would work if she wasn’t more than up to the task of shouldering all the emotional weight.
Keijzer has an extensive background in advertising, with hundreds of commercials under his belt. Though this his first feature, that experience shows through, and The Occupant is well-constructed and clearly overseen by someone with a steady hand. Working with cinematographer Robbie van Brussel, the photography captures the terrifying natural beauty and uses that to emphasize the desperate isolation, cranking up the stakes and pressure that much more. We feel the solitude of this one person alone amidst a vast emptiness in our bones. An ominous, portentous score from composer Renger Koning ratchets up the tension and underscores the pervasive weirdness and sense that things are not as they seem.
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A few times as Ella stumbles through the forest, the film also seems to be doing the same thing, plunging aimlessly forward. But that’s a minor hiccup. For the most part, The Occupant is a taut, harrowing survival thriller, one that takes unanticipated turns into unusual territory with a heavy emotional weight. It’s about fighting so hard to hold onto things that are already gone and discovering that everything you want may not be everything you need. [Grade: B+]
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