The Roommate 2003

Sara Matthews begins her freshman year in Los Angeles, stepping into a buzzing dorm world where new friendships form as quickly as insecurities surface. She quickly befriends two roommates at first glance: Tracy, a party-loving confidant, and Stephen, a charming college guy who becomes her love interest. Sara also shares a room with Rebecca, a wealthy but shy student who bears an uncanny resemblance to her. What starts as a budding social circle soon reveals a much darker current beneath the surface. Rebecca’s growing fixation on Sara turns into an all-consuming obsession that skewers every boundary between friendship and control.

As Rebecca’s grip tightens, she begins to push away anyone who might interfere with her bond with Sara. She frames her own fearsome actions as protectiveness, attacking Tracy in the shower and threatening her life if she dares draw Sara away. Tracy relocates to another dorm to escape the danger, while Rebecca’s warped sense of loyalty continues to escalate. The drama takes a brutal turn when Rebecca kills Sara’s cat, Cuddles, then fabricates a story of a sudden disappearance and later injuries she claims to have suffered, all to keep Sara close and reassured in her grasp.

Thanksgiving brings a veneer of normalcy that only deepens the risk, as Sara’s fashion design professor, Roberts, shares a kiss with her. Rebecca’s plan to remove any threat to their union unfolds with a chilling deception: she seduces the professor and records their dialogue to manufacture a rape accusation against him, a ploy meant to erase any obstacle in Sara’s life. Over hearing a revealing exchange between Rebecca and her father hints at Rebecca’s long history of trouble making friends, while Sara notices a bottle of unused Zyprexa pills that signals a fragile mental state.

Seeking safety, Sara moves in with Irene, but the fragile peace shatters when Rebecca lures Irene away, seducing her and driving a wedge between Sara and her only solace. In a disturbing turn, Rebecca tattoos Sara’s sister’s name on her own body, signaling an unsettling fixation that pushes Sara toward a desperate realization: Rebecca will stop at nothing to keep Sara all to herself. Jason, an old flame of Sara, slips a note under her door inviting a reunion, but Rebecca hijacks the moment, disguises herself as Sara, and travels to Jason’s hotel room where she murders him.

The danger escalates when Sara receives an urgent text from Irene, prompting her to meet with Stephen. Sara discovers Irene bound and gagged, her room a crime scene, and Rebecca—reverently declaring her love and loyalty—pulls back the curtain on the trail of victims she has crafted to win Sara’s friendship. Rebecca’s chilling confession unfolds as she moves to finish Irene, and Sara’s attempt to call for help goes unanswered as the room’s phone remains dead.

In the crescendo of fear, Stephen briefly disarms Rebecca but is knocked unconscious. Sara, racing against time, is strangled by the enraged ex-friend, yet she fights back with a box cutter, delivering a fatal strike and whispering, > You were never my friend.

With Rebecca finally gone, Sara returns to her dorm and, aided by Stephen, clears the extra bed from her space. The house feels heavier and quieter, but Sara resolves to keep her distance from any future roommate, seeking to reclaim her life and space after the harrowing series of betrayals, violence, and the chilling realization that danger can hide behind the closest smile.