This is one of those movies that might come across as very pedestrian to a lot of people, but that's only if they fail to appreciate the very poignant nuance behind everything that takes place in the film. First of all, the characters suck. It's hard to empathize with any of them, and that may be why some people were nonplussed by the film, but in reality, this is what plays into the film's major strength. Basically the film is about one family: two couples, who find themselves in a horrific situation, and they're the cause of 90% of it. The entire drama stems from the fact that the vacationers, especially the one girl, prejudged the guy who rented the place to them: they didn't like his manner; they accused him of being racist; they accused him of not wanting to rent to Muslims, because he turned down the girl's application initially. There's a million reasons why he could have turned her down, and there's no way they could prove it one way or another, but no, in their minds it HAD to have been racism, and everything that ensued afterwards was confirmation to them that the property manager was scum, as proof of their own righteousness.
Meanwhile throughout the film, each of the four main characters get a chance to display ALL their vices: they're erratic; prone to violence; they're selfish; they act based on impulse even if they know it will hurt each other; they do drugs; they're irreverent; they bring pets despite agreeing to a no pet rental situation; they don't respect their elders (the guy who rents to them is a fair bit older); so many things. I'm obviously trying to keep it vague so as to avoid spoiling the film. Ultimately they convinced themselves that they're so righteous, and the property manager is so deplorable. In short, they're human. This is what we do now, and it's on steroids. That's why the film presents such an awesome character study. It's such a perfect encapsulation of the 20's zeitgeist that we now live in, so perfect in fact, that I'm not even sure it was intentional. For example, midway through the film, the renter comes around and says "I'm here because the white girl gave me a call." That's not really racist, but up until this point that's the only thing that's ACTUALLY suggestive of racism in any way shape or form.
Personally, I think they really could have done without that one line. This line makes it feel like the film makers actually ARE trying to sell you an image, which I think is a lot more blurred than even they may realize, and the more blurred that image is, the more powerful the film is. The film speaks to the conundrum we live in as a society these days. You can be as vile, nasty, mean, abusive, and even violent towards someone AS LONG AS they're a "racist." You don't even have to prove it, you just have to suspect it, and get enough people to agree with you. What's the lesson? The lesson is that this type of attitude where you're constantly pointing your fingers outwards and never inwards doesn't solve any problems, it just creates and exacerbates them. You're a good person not because of anything YOU do, but because THAT guy over there is so bad, and the fact that he exists is definite proof that you're a good person. In the film, ALL they had to do was call the cops, and it would have solved all their problems. They had MANY opportunities to do this too. The longer they avoided doing this, the worse things got, and why did they avoid doing this? Because they were afraid of exposing their own morally reprehensible behavior. The plot development is so much stronger than a lot of people realize.
Meanwhile throughout the film, each of the four main characters get a chance to display ALL their vices: they're erratic; prone to violence; they're selfish; they act based on impulse even if they know it will hurt each other; they do drugs; they're irreverent; they bring pets despite agreeing to a no pet rental situation; they don't respect their elders (the guy who rents to them is a fair bit older); so many things. I'm obviously trying to keep it vague so as to avoid spoiling the film. Ultimately they convinced themselves that they're so righteous, and the property manager is so deplorable. In short, they're human. This is what we do now, and it's on steroids. That's why the film presents such an awesome character study. It's such a perfect encapsulation of the 20's zeitgeist that we now live in, so perfect in fact, that I'm not even sure it was intentional. For example, midway through the film, the renter comes around and says "I'm here because the white girl gave me a call." That's not really racist, but up until this point that's the only thing that's ACTUALLY suggestive of racism in any way shape or form.
Personally, I think they really could have done without that one line. This line makes it feel like the film makers actually ARE trying to sell you an image, which I think is a lot more blurred than even they may realize, and the more blurred that image is, the more powerful the film is. The film speaks to the conundrum we live in as a society these days. You can be as vile, nasty, mean, abusive, and even violent towards someone AS LONG AS they're a "racist." You don't even have to prove it, you just have to suspect it, and get enough people to agree with you. What's the lesson? The lesson is that this type of attitude where you're constantly pointing your fingers outwards and never inwards doesn't solve any problems, it just creates and exacerbates them. You're a good person not because of anything YOU do, but because THAT guy over there is so bad, and the fact that he exists is definite proof that you're a good person. In the film, ALL they had to do was call the cops, and it would have solved all their problems. They had MANY opportunities to do this too. The longer they avoided doing this, the worse things got, and why did they avoid doing this? Because they were afraid of exposing their own morally reprehensible behavior. The plot development is so much stronger than a lot of people realize.