Next Door

John is left devastated and vulnerable after his girlfriend breaks up with him, but that’s still no reason to be seduced by the teenage sado-masochist nymph next door. Especially when her ‘sister’, who invited John into her flat only yesterday, suddenly takes the mind games to a new level, accusing him of crimes of which he never thought he was capable. Or is he? John now doesn’t know if he is being driven by blind desire, cleverly conned, or just plain losing his marbles, but audiences the world over haven’t been able to tell either, right up until the very last shot. Writer/director Pål Sletaune’s third feature lives up to its “psycho-sexual thriller” label in every sense and it’s no surprise that it has been described as a homage to Roman Polanski with its claustrophobic setting. Brilliantly conceived, laconic, lean and seemingly edited with razor-wire, this hair-raising sprint through the subconscious is enough to make both David Lynch and the Marquis de Sade break out in a cold sweat.

An expert thriller high on atmosphere and scares, Next Door leaves standard genre fare in its wake with a vivid psychological portrait of its protagonist and an impeccable direction of its actors.

Norwegian Film Institute