Three women sit in a car, casing a mansion before they rob it. But they’re unprepared to face the demonic force lurking in the basement. Writer/director, Guillermo Amoedo’s The Inhabitant, is a home invasion flick with a supernatural twist – think Panic Room meets The Exorcist; a dark and moody creep-fest with an exhausted premise

Camila (Vanesa Restrepo) owes lots of money to a violent criminal, and she’s willing to break the law to pay him off. She discovers the whereabouts of some bribe money stashed in the mansion of a local senator. It sounds like easy money, so Camila recruits two more women – including the reluctant Maria (María Evoli) – to help her break in and steal the cash.

Once inside they discover the senator’s daughter Tamara (Natasha Cubria) locked away and in peril. The robbers’ hearts aren’t made of ice, so they free Tamara, but doing so unleashes a malevolent force. A dark, primal evil possesses Tamara, and it uses its power to steal someone’s deepest secrets to turn the women against each other.

The Inhabitant is a deeply unsettling dive into the depths of human depravity. The evil force reads people’s darkest secrets and reveals their greatest shames. This movie features a cast of awful people doing awful things to each other, and there’s no shortage of skeletons lurking in closets. We don’t just hear about these secrets either; the story explores people’s points of trauma, and what’s revealed will make you squirm.

The Inhabitant looks the part of a great horror thriller. It’s tense, atmospheric, and features a soul-chilling score. But that’s where the praise ends. The characters lack personality, and the film’s final act is nothing but tedious exorcism movie clichés. The Inhabitant lacks the originality and visceral thrills of first-rate scary movies.