Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
    Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal promotional image

    Battlefield 6 Classes, Maps, And More: Everything You Need To Know

    07/31/2025
    A glimpse at all the upcoming Star Wars stories coming to the galaxy

    Star Wars Stories: What We Learned At SDCC 2025

    07/25/2025
    Blindspot episode still

    It’s been 5 years since ‘Blindspot’ ended. Why haven’t you watched it yet?

    07/24/2025
    Strange Scaffold

    Strange Scaffold Summer Showcase Delivers Bizarre And Brilliant Games

    07/22/2025
  • Fantasia Festival
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘The Tenants’ Is An Absurdist Nightmare

REVIEW: ‘The Tenants’ Is An Absurdist Nightmare

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez08/15/20244 Mins Read
the Tenants
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Writer-director Yoon Eun-kyoung hones in on one of the scariest elements of life: secure housing. In a dreary, near-future version of Seoul, its citizens have become subject to rampant overpopulation, air pollution, and housing costs that have become completely untenable. Shin-dong has dedicated his life to try to find something better for himself. He’s allowed his life to be consumed by work and has isolated himself from friends and family in the process, all to earn a promotion that will honestly never come. But with the dream of moving up in the world and the transfer that comes with it to Sphere 2 (a utopia of sorts), he just keeps pushing forward.

For all of his hours in the office, though, Shin-dong can’t escape the threat of eviction. When his landlord (who is a literal child) threatens to put him on the street, Shin-dong resorts to his last choice: the world’s worst Craigslist ad. Called Wolwolse, the program allows tenants to rent out parts of their space to other people. Looking to rent out his living room, an eccentric couple arrives. The gentleman is tall, and dressed to the nines, speaking for his wife. But the couple don’t want to stay in the living room, they want the bathroom. What starts off as weird but tolerable quickly becomes worse when the couple turns to Wolwolse themselves and invites another tenant.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

For his part, Kim Dae-gun as Shin-dong is the embodiment of anxiety. With no security in his home or his life, the colorless routine of going to work, going to the park, and going home is played for laughs at times but only before it comes back to the crushing fear of not being able to survive. At the start, there isn’t anything truly nefarious or dangerous happening.

Shin-dong evades eviction by letting the weird married couple stay. Their faces are eternally sharing creepy smiles, and they have a weird bathroom ritual, but they’re mostly harmless. Then, they use the loophole themselves, and the awkward behaviors become an endless nightmare. But what can Shin-dong do?

the Tenants

The core of the film revolves around Shin-dong’s lack of control, even in situations where he should have a solid grasp of circumstance and outcome. Time and time again, his hope is dashed, and he remains stuck. As his fight leaves him and he begins to cave into his circumstances, you can’t help but feel it all collapse. The Tenants is gripping in its hopelessness and the anxiety it breeds.

Lynchian in some ways, Kafkaesque in others, Yoon Eun-kyoung has her eye turned toward one of the most salient of societal problems right now in any country: working yourself to death only to still live in fear of losing your home. The confinement and claustrophobia that Shin-dong endures are crushing and director Yoon’s attention to detail and ability to force the audience to questions their own choices can’t be understated.

The Tenants is truly astounding.  It’s a black-and-white absurdist nightmare; every time you think it can’t get worse for Shin-dong, it does. Taking the stance that a renter truly has no rights in this capitalist hellhole, The Tenants uses the surreal to capture the harsh realities that come with constantly grinding yourself down to the perfect employee hoping to excel in life. Shin-dong doesn’t live for himself, no matter how hard he tries.

The Tenants is clever at its core and director Yoon Eun-kyoung’s ability to craft tension and dread from the simple use of smiles, a child landlord, and the black-and-white cinematography is something to be applauded. Yoon understands the uncanny valley, the ease or burden that a contractual loophole creates, and how the weight of working just to survive traps you under. Smart and effortlessly surreal, The Tenants is art house personified.

The Tenants screened as a part of the Fantasia International Film Festival.

The Tenants

TL:DR

The Tenants is clever at its core and director Yoon Eun-kyoung’s ability to craft tension and dread from absurdity is something to be applauded.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Ultraman x the Avengers’ Issue #1
Next Article Paradox Unveils the Latest Stellaris Expansion
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

08/02/2025
Brandon Routh and co in Ick
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Ick’ Is A Near Perfect Horror-Comedy

07/29/2025
Bad Bunny and Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
5.0

REVIEW: ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Earns More Shrugs Than Laughs

07/29/2025
Hi-Five
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Hi-Five’ Introduces A Scrappy, Superpowered Team Up

07/28/2025
Still from Haunted Mountains The Yellow Taboo
5.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo’ Gets A Little Lost In The Weeds

07/26/2025
Dakota Gorman in HELLCAT
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘HELLCAT’ Runs High In Tension But Loses Steam

07/25/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

By Adrian Ruiz07/25/2025Updated:07/30/2025

Built for friends and tuned for competition, Wildgate is messy in the best way: smart, surprising, and bursting with room to grow.

Glass Heart
7.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ Offers Messy, Musical Catharsis

By Allyson Johnson07/22/2025

The musical drama series ‘Glass Heart’ soars when it focuses on the epic performances of it’s fictional band, TENBLANK.

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

By Jason Flatt08/02/2025

An Honest Life is an overly severe misfire about a law student who falls in with anarchist burglars that can’t decide who it resents more.

World of Warcraft The War Within Ghosts of Karesh But Why Tho Interviews

‘The War Within’ Patch 11.2 Addresses Raid Trash, Magic-Focused Comps, And More

By Mick Abrahamson07/31/2025Updated:07/31/2025

WoW Sr. Producer and Asst. Lead Quest Designer address The War Within 11.2’s Manaforge Omega, Reshii Wrap rewards, and Mythic+ balancing.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here