Lin Shaye Preserves Icon Status In Room For Rent

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Uncork’d Entertainment has a hit on his hands with Tommy Stovall’s Room For Rent, starring Lin Shaye (Insidious, A Nightmare on Elm Street) This tight thriller was written by Stuart Flack with music by Joseph Bishara, and also stars Valeska Miller, Oliver Rayon and Ryan Ochoa. Room For Rent was released May 3rd in select theaters, and is available on digital May 7.

The film follows Shaye (Elise in the Insidious franchise) as she navigates becoming a widow and deciding to open her home as a bed and breakfast spot in Southern California. The official synopsis goes: “Lonely widow Joyce rents out a room to make easy money. She meets a mysterious drifter, Bob, and takes him in as a long-term tenant. She becomes obsessed with her much younger guest, making him the object of her deepest romantic fantasies. When a friend’s betrayal derails Joyce’s fantasy world, she seizes control of her own destiny with a deadly mission to finally get what she deserves.

It is impossible not to feel for Joyce’s character at the start of this story. With her widow leaving her penniless, she has to start entirely fresh in what should be the best years of her life. The film as a whole sets an eye on how the elderly are observed as less than or forgotten, often being seen as a nuisance or too weak to fight back against various types of abuse. Throughout the movie she is spoken to in one of two ways – either delicately, to not be rude or show their disinterest in her presence, or viciously because they feel they have a right to. It is an epidemic how our older generation is treated in this country, and Shaye’s portrayal of Joyce shows the stark reality of the aftermath.

Once the film kicks into all its thriller glory, it’s hard not to be invested. Flack peppers the script with just enough humor to break the tension and as Joyce’s weird habits begin to take center stage, the humor quite perfectly adapts into apprehension. What unfolds then is a Misery scenario set in the Southwest, chock full of manipulation and delusion. Valeska Miller and Oliver Rayon’s characters are preyed upon due to their compassion for Shaye, and when things eventually begin to corrode the danger for them becomes very real. Jealousy and anger color the film in Joyce’s sad, dark house and as one lie after another is laid bare, she feels she has no choice but to act in violence. Violence in the name of what she feels is justified action due to them taking advantage of her in her own eyes.

Any fan of Lin Shaye and paperback thrillers should check out Stovall’s Room For Rent, which will be available on your favorite digital platforms May 7. This gripping film is not to be missed.

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