The Uninvited Guest

Felix, an architect, lives alone in the house his partner has just left. One day a stranger comes to the door asking to make a phone call; he goes in and is never seen coming out. Felix starts to suspect someone is living in the house, and then tries entering someone else's house the same way. Guillem Morales wrote and directed. Andoni Gracia plays Felix. The idea is simple and productive: is it possible to live inside a large house unnoticed. The question turns first into paranoia and then into obsession. The story comes in two halves. In the first Felix is the one being watched, in the second the one watching; the camera builds the same arrangement in reverse. The tension is slow and rests on sound design; the house works like the character's mind. After this first film Morales made The Eyes of Julia, produced by Guillermo del Toro. Who it is for: viewers who like Spanish psychological thrillers and single-location films. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a clear explanation; the ending is deliberately ambiguous.