The Occupant

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2:13

The Occupant

Released Aug 8

1h 44m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Sci-Fi

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93%

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15 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Desperate to save her sister, Abby (Ella Balinska) takes a dangerous job in the remote Georgian wilderness. Stranded in the mountains after her helicopter crashes, she finds hope through John (Rob Delaney), a mysterious helper radioing from nearby. As he guides her through the harsh conditions, Abby struggles to survive, and her grip on reality falters until she is faced with an impossible choice.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Part sci-fi, part family drama, part survival horror, it reminds one of an oft-repeated critical phrase of mine: If you make multiple movies at the same time, you often fail at making one.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 8, 2025

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Chris Joyce

Movies and Munchies (YouTube)

[The Occupant is] intense, quiet, beautifully shot, and terrifying, all while maintaining a pressure-cooker grip on the audience through Balinska’s endless drive.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 11, 2025

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Peter Gray

The AU Review

Revels in both its sci-fi and action temperament as it details a haunting tale of grief and acceptance.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 11, 2025

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

Some movies should remain shorts, especially if the other characters are not going to feel as real and three-dimensional as the protagonist. While the visuals are impressive, and it is well acted, the story needed more work.

Aug 10, 2025

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Jennie Kermode

Eye for Film

Having developed an interesting idea and set the pieces in motion, the creative team doesn’t seem to know what to do with the middle portion of the film.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 8, 2025

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Jared Mobarak

Hey, Have You Seen ...?

The Occupant inevitably goes to some strange and sufficiently dark places to satisfactorily explain the rock in Abby's possession, but it never strays from the underlying truth of her accepting her sister's fate.

Rated: 6/10

Aug 8, 2025

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Steve N

What if Annihilation was written by a moron? Amazing locations, pretty solid special effects and cinematography, with a script on stupid mode, and tied up in a bow with “it was all basically a dream.” Got about 5 minutes in and our lead character appears to think that she can pay for private cancer treatment for her sister with….a few chunks of uranium. Which, maybe a kid might think. Don’t let that kid write your movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/03/25

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Betty B

The only reason I can think of why this gets such a high rating is because of the cinematography. Everything else about it is rubbish. Spoiler: Flying rocks that take down planes so that they can make more people into flying rocks in a special cave, I mean come on! Oh the rock people can communicate via two way radios too 🤣 Make sure you have a bucket with you while watching 🤮🙄 Thought this was going to be a cool sci fi but turned out to be a total chick flick schmaltzfest. Don't get me wrong I've cried at many a film but this was not done well. Waaaaay too cheesy.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/30/25

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Hugo D

The middle act drags at times, but Ella delivers a compelling performance throughout. For me, the ending was haunting—its full weight only landed as the credits rolled. Beneath the surface, the story is really about our avoidance of death, our reluctance to confront it, and the quiet loneliness that shapes our reality. I don't think it's a sci-fi

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/25/25

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Han S.

don’t waste your time on this

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/25/25

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Nicky P

I kept thinking of the MST3k episode where they have to watch Lost Continent, for which a good part of the movie is watching the characters climb rocks. So if you want to watch someone climb rocks for an hour, check out 'MST3K 208: Lost Continent' and enjoy the commentary. Unfortunately, for this film, I had to provide my own commentary. And dear Abby... it's too bad you never saw the Wizard of Oz, because you would have known there's no place like home and saved yourself a lot of trouble. Also, dear Abby, you might want to check out the story of Marie Curie and what happens when you mess with uranium.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/23/25

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Juan Carlos A

I didn't like this at all. weird and depressing. Don't waste your money.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/23/25

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Hugo Keijzer

Director

Ella Balinska

Abby Brennan

Rob Delaney

John Fisher

Vanessa Ifediora

Beth Brennan

Stuart Graham

Archie Brennan

Sheena Kelly

Nurse

The Occupant: Trailer 2

2:13

The Occupant: Trailer 1

2:00

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Synopsis

Desperate to save her sister, Abby (Ella Balinska) takes a dangerous job in the remote Georgian wilderness. Stranded in the mountains after her helicopter crashes, she finds hope through John (Rob Delaney), a mysterious helper radioing from nearby. As he guides her through the harsh conditions, Abby struggles to survive, and her grip on reality falters until she is faced with an impossible choice.

Director: Hugo Keijzer
Producer: Raymond van der Kaaij, Isabel Freer, Jay Taylor, Kwesi Dickson
Screenwriter: Philip Michael Howe, Hugo Keijzer, Roelof Jan Minneboo, Xiao Tang
Distributor: DECAL
Production Co: Revolver Amsterdam
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 8, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 8, 2025
Runtime: 1h 44m

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