Touchdown Productions

Simran Kabotra

Analysis of Opening Sequence The Resident In the opening sequence, we learn that the female protagonist, Dr. Juliet Devereau, is an everywoman. This is established through her separation with her husband who cheated on her. The audience can identify with the character as the situation can be related to every woman who has broken up with their other half or have been cheated on. The weakness of the female protagonist is her loneliness as she does not have the companionship she once had; making her adapt to supporting and comforting herself on her own which are introduced through the conversation the female protagonist has with her work colleague. The enigma created is towards the beginning once Juliet has found herself an apartment in New York where the audience starts to see that someone is looking at her in a hidden place. The enigma is the person stalking Juliet in her apartment. These hints are given to the audience through a point of view shot which shows someone looking at her intently and through the music which can portray anonymity and darkness. The questions it can lead to includes: who the stalker is; why are they stalking her; is it out of infatuation or to kill her; will the stalker put Juliets life in danger? The information given to the audience includes her ex-husband who wants her back, an old neighbour who is caught staring at Juliet and the apartments owner. This can provide further knowledge to the audience about the identity of the stalker which can increase their curiosity and wait until the end of the film to see who it is. As the narrative progresses, the enigma of who the stalker could be is narrowed down as the audience realises that the stalker is not Juliets ex-husband nor her neighbour therefore the audience can assume that the stalker is the owner. This creates further enigmas such as the reason as to why he is stalking her in the first place. Within each individual scene, suspense is created through the use of ambiguity and shadows to create a sense of mystery and the unknown; accompanied by fast paced music to build suspense. The audience is led to believe that the antagonist is familiar with the structure of the apartment which can add suspense since they do not know what will happen next and what the stalker will do. The audience will think that the stalker will be caught by Juliet; however theses suspicions are erased as he either walks away from the peeking holes or when the scene cuts to the scene of Juliet in her bedroom the next morning. As the film progresses, dramatic irony is used as the audience knows something that the protagonist doesnt e.g. the owners past and his relationship with his grandfather. This can add to the suspenseful atmosphere since the audience understands the owners true potential and what he can become; highlighting the danger Juliet is in. The themes within the film include: a hero discovering a secret that puts him/her in danger; the hero has unreliable perceptions and the hero must investigate in order to uncover a series of enigmas to establish the truth. These are introduced through the owners secret of having a past in which his father was a murderer which has been passed onto him as well as Juliet believing the owner to be helping her and has a genuine personality. This then leads

Touchdown Productions

Simran Kabotra

to Juliet uncovering the mystery of her unable to wake up in the morning by installing cameras only to show that the owner comes into her room, drugs her and then rapes her every night.