You Belong to Me

Excellent Thriller
An excellent indy Hitchcock-ian thriller with a shocker ending. Nicely produced and expertly directed. That the main character,Jeffery,(the charming Daniel Sauli) is gay is secondary to the plot. Jeffrey,a NYC architect, becomes infatuated with his sexy one night stand and comes upon him sometime after their encounter while out walking his dog, Max. He follows Ren back to his apartment building and there finds a notice for an empty apartment. Enter the landlady/owner, Gladys, played by the excellent and ever-so-creepy Patti D'Arbanville,she insists upon showing him the apartment, He decides to take it and thus begins the real plot. To say more would spoil the story,suffice to say this is a movie that you'll enjoy a great deal if you are fond of this genre.

Smart and Suspenseful
As in Alfred Hitchcock's films, the suspense in Sam Zalusky's "You Belong to Me" stems from the psychological complexity of the characters. There are no black and white heroes and villains here but complex human beings whose motivations and emotions ring true throughout the film, thanks to both the quality of the screenplay and the quality of the cast, especially the inspired Patti D'Arbanville. The real source of horror in "You Belong to Me" is how in our increasingly alienating society, people's search for connection with each other can go horribly wrong. And in this film, when things do go wrong, we shudder not just with fear but with recognition of our own human foibles.

Great Build-Up, But Ending Very Abrupt
This was definitely a refreshing film. It has an interesting plot, and I like the interaction between the lead character and his best friend.

Shortly into the movie, the protagonist takes an apartment in a building so that he can be near a guy he desires. Unfortunately, the love is unrequited. After he moves into the building, things turn dramatically worse for him. Saying more, would give away the plot.

This part of the story is very suspenseful. The viewer is kept intrigued waiting to discover the motive of the people who are threatening the protagonist and to see how the conflict is resolved. So, after all of that wonderful build-up, the reason for the conflict and the resolution left me wanting more.

I totally "get" the reason for the conflict, but the actors involved did not portray "insanity" effectively to make that explanation credible. They were just too campy. Also, the resolution -- "I'm here" -- was way too short. It did not give this...

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