The Roommate  ★★

YOU don’t need psychic powers to know what’s coming at almost every moment of The Roommate.

Apart from a couple of minor twists, the remaining 99 percent of this 2011 thriller is entirely predictable.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with the acting or direction, it just follows a basic formula we’ve seen many times before to its inevitable conclusion.

Actually, that’s not entirely true because, spoiler alert, the film doesn’t have the expected add-on ending that is meant to give us a final surprise or shock before quickly cutting to the credits.

Minka Kelly plays student Sarah who is starting her first year of college. At a party on her first night she meets several other girls who become her friends as well as Stephen who will be the love interest.

But the next day she also meets her new roommate, Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who appears nice and welcoming to Sarah but cold and removed to everyone else. From there the ‘surprises’ just keep coming.

Rebecca becomes increasingly obsessed with Sarah and even starts trying to look like her; Rebecca starts driving everyone away who might get between them; Rebecca eventually becomes violent; Rebecca is actually a psychotic stalker; Rebecca has done the same thing before; etc, etc.

Unfortunately the script, by Sonny Mallhi, also presents Sarah as even more of an idiot than the type of victim that usually inhabits B grade versions of this type of story.

The ubiquitous Bill Zane also pops up as a potential draw-card for some viewers.

But, like the rest of the film, his character arc is plain as the nose on your face from the every second he makes an appearance as a sleazy college professor…of fashion design would you believe.