Rejected by a lover who refuses to be seen with him in public or even invite him home, architect Jeffrey just cannot help himself when he discovers Rene’s address and finds out there is a vacancy in his building. He charms the landlady, Gladys, into letting him have the place, all the better to keep tabs on his reluctant would-be boyfriend. But just who is stalking whom becomes the central question in this Hitchcockian first feature from Sam Zalutsky (Smear, Frameline22).

What begins as a sexy domestic drama turns into something else entirely once Jeffrey moves into the apartment, and it becomes apparent that the rot eating at his hardwood floors is symbolic of an evil infecting the entire address. What happened to the former tenant? Is Jeffrey really the milquetoast he seems? Or does that placid surface hide a murkier agenda? The motherly Gladys tries to provide a homey atmosphere for the whole household, but the threat of violence lurks ominously under that surface tranquility.

Daniel Sauli injects just the right note of courteous obsession into the role of Jeffrey, and Patti D’Arbanville is terrific as the politely intrusive Gladys. But the nonstop suspense that takes over in the film’s final third as the apartment’s secrets are gradually revealed is the true star of this dark thriller.