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IMDbPro

The Tenants Downstairs

Original title: Lou xia de fang ke
  • 20162016
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Yu-Wei Shao in The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Thriller
A sadisitic landlord manipulates the lives of his tenants through a network of surveillance cameras installed throughout the building.A sadisitic landlord manipulates the lives of his tenants through a network of surveillance cameras installed throughout the building.A sadisitic landlord manipulates the lives of his tenants through a network of surveillance cameras installed throughout the building.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Adam Tsuei
  • Writers
    • Giddens Ko(original novel)
    • Essay Liu(screenplay co-writer)
  • Stars
    • Simon Yam
    • Yu-Wei Shao
    • Xing Li
Top credits
  • Director
    • Adam Tsuei
  • Writers
    • Giddens Ko(original novel)
    • Essay Liu(screenplay co-writer)
  • Stars
    • Simon Yam
    • Yu-Wei Shao
    • Xing Li
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 4 nominations

    Photos13

    Yu-Wei Shao in The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    Xing Li in The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    Xing Li in The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    Adam Tsuei, Xing Li, and Yu-Wei Shao at an event for The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)
    The Tenants Downstairs (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Simon Yam
    Simon Yam
    • The Landlordas The Landlord…
    Yu-Wei Shao
    Yu-Wei Shao
    • Yingruas Yingru
    Xing Li
    Xing Li
    • Miss Chenas Miss Chen
    Kang-sheng Lee
    Kang-sheng Lee
    • Guo Lias Guo Li
    Kai Fung
    • Detectiveas Detective
    Kaiser Chuang
    Kaiser Chuang
    • Mr. Changas Mr. Chang
    An-Shun Yu
    An-Shun Yu
    • Mr. Wangas Mr. Wang
    Yan-xi Hou
    Yan-xi Hou
    • Boyanas Boyan
    • (as Phil Yan)
    Bernard Senjun
    Bernard Senjun
    • Linghuas Linghu
    Angel Ho
    Angel Ho
    • Mr. Wang's daughteras Mr. Wang's daughter
    Akio Chen
    Akio Chen
    • Huang Silangas Huang Silang
    • (as Mu-Yi Chen)
    • …
    Kurt Chou
    Kurt Chou
    • Yingru's first victimas Yingru's first victim…
    Shih-Mei Tu
    • Aphrodisiac saleswomanas Aphrodisiac saleswoman…
    Toyoharu Kitamura
    Toyoharu Kitamura
    • Miss Chen's bossas Miss Chen's boss
    Meng-sheng Shen
    Meng-sheng Shen
    • Old manas Old man
    Sean Lin
    Sean Lin
    • Miss Chen's selfish loveras Miss Chen's selfish lover
    Alex Shu-Yuan Ko
    Alex Shu-Yuan Ko
    • Chief Constableas Chief Constable
    Don Wong
    Don Wong
    • Inspector Chenas Inspector Chen
    • Director
      • Adam Tsuei
    • Writers
      • Giddens Ko(original novel) (screenplay)
      • Essay Liu(screenplay co-writer)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

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    • Soundtracks
      Rent Money
      Composed by Terrytyelee & Queenie Lin

      Lyrics & Performed by Terrytyelee

      Produced by Terrytyelee & Chih-chien Hou

      Arranged by Queenie Lin, Terrytyelee & FishRedDragon

      [Ending Credit Song]

    User reviews3

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    The Tenants Downstairs – When Sliver Meets The Untold Story Meets Audition
    Based on the novel of the same title written by Taiwanese author Giddens Ko, better known as his pen name Jiu Ba Dao (Nine Knives) to the Chinese community, he brings the novel to live with the help of the first time director, Adam Tsuei. Under the directions of Tsuei, TheTenants Downstairs serves as a symphony of people from different backgrounds, or more rather, a mass orgy on the dark side of human nature.

    A homeless man turned landlord (Hong Kong veteran actor Simon Yam taking up the most challenging leading role) inherits an old abandoned apartment building from his relative. He rents out the rooms to 'normal human beings', which he believes they are flawed in certain way. Thus, the rooms were rent out to: A single father (You An-Shun) and his young daughter (Angel Ho), a lusty gymnastic teacher (Kaiser Chuang), a married lecturer (Taiwanese veteran actor Lee Kang Sheng) and his male student lover (Malaysian actor Bernard Ho), a geeky student (Hou Yan-xi) who believes he has the power of tele-portation, a office worker (Li Xin) who believes in making use of her body to climb up the corporate ladder, and a young lady (Shao Yu-Wei) who always carry a trolley luggage around into her room. With CCTVs installed in their respective rooms, the landlord satisfies his fetish for voyeurism. Making use of the individual's living habits, the landlord decided to manipulate everyone, which leads to mistrust, mayhem and murder.

    Rather than seeing it as a usual suspense thriller, The Tenants Downstairs serves more of an exploration on the dark side of human nature. Simon Yam taking the leading role of the landlord serves as a bystander to the daily life of his tenants, which he carefully records down their daily activities in order to bring the game up to the next level. While Yam was well known for his various roles in the Category 3 movies during his early days, his experiences helps him to take up the challenging role, which leaves the audience with a twisted mind.

    The story can also be seen as a darker side of the society, where the apartment is a micro-society by itself, with the tenants and their behavior forms the reflection to the current society. For instance: the father develops a sexual attraction towards his young daughter (incest and pedophilia); the gymnastic teacher engaging in a sexual relationship with the office worker, which in return, induces physical violence towards her (domestic violence); the geeky student indulging in his own world (socially awkward), which ends up being seen as a intruder in the homosexual relationship between the lecturer and the student; the gay couple living in a secret lifestyle (one is married and dominant, another waiting to be enlisted into the army and submissive). However, Taiwanese actress Shao Yu-Wei seems to be a scene stealer from here, where she chooses her victims through seduction and kidnapping. Beneath the kind- looking face holds a twisted personality, where her role is a reflection from the role of Asami portrayed by Eihi Shiina in Takashi Miike's Audition (1999).

    With the mayhem created due to manipulation, it is no surprise that audience will get to see a movie filled with several adult contents. The Tenants Downstairs is not only something that is disturbing to the adult viewers, but also challenges the tolerance level, social norms and censorship regulations around the world. With the elements of voyeurism from Philip Noyce's Sliver (1993), murder and cannibalism in Herman Yau's The Untold Story (1993) and Audition, The Tenants Downstairs takes the strength from each film. With an unusual way of storytelling and unexpected twists, be warned and beware. Watch it only if you are ready for the unusual storytelling method from Ko, who also wrote the script. And no, this is a far cry from Ko's sweet teenage romantic drama, You're The Apple of My Eye (2012).

    Note: The review is given based on the revised version created for Singapore market.
    helpful•13
    6
    • samuelding85
    • Oct 10, 2016

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 12, 2016 (Taiwan)
    • Country of origin
      • Taiwan
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • Mandarin
    • Also known as
      • 樓下的房客
    • Production companies
      • Amazing Film Studio
      • Star Ritz Productions Co.
      • Edko Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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