{{Infobox film | name = The Michelle Apartments | image = | caption = | director = [[John Pozer]] | producer = Stavros C. Stavrides | writer = [[Ross Weber]] | narrator = | starring = [[Henry Czerny]]<br>[[Mary Beth Rubens]]<br>[[Daniel Kash]]<br>[[Peter Outerbridge]]<br>[[Nancy Beatty]]<br>[[Maria Vacratsis]] | music = [[Mark Korven]] | cinematography = [[Peter Wunstorf]] | editing = David Ostry | studio = [[Alliance Films]] | distributor = [[Cineplex Odeon]] | released = {{Film date|1995|09|07|[[1995 Toronto International Film Festival|TIFF]]}} | runtime = 91 minutes | country = Canada | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''The Michelle Apartments''''' is a 1995 Canadian [[black comedy]] film directed by [[John Pozer]] and written by Ross Weber.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Birnie |first=Peter |date=September 13, 1995 |title=Pozer's on to something with his offbeat projects |work=Vancouver Sun}}</ref>

The film stars [[Henry Czerny]] as Alex Hartwell, a government [[auditor]] sent to the small town of Walton to review the books of a chemical company. When his hotel room is mistakenly given to another client, he is forced to take a room in the Michelle Apartments, where he is drawn into a romantic attraction to his neighbour Madeline ([[Mary Beth Rubens]]), whose husband Dean ([[Daniel Kash]]) is in prison. When Dean is released and comes home to find Madeline and Alex kissing, events spiral into a murderous chaos.<ref>{{Cite news |last=De Lean |first=Paul |date=April 12, 1996 |title=Atmosphere is key to The Michelle Apartments |work=Montreal Gazette}}</ref>

The cast also includes [[Peter Outerbridge]], [[Nancy Beatty]] and [[Maria Vacratsis]].

The film premiered at the [[1995 Toronto International Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salem |first=Rob |date=July 26, 1995 |title=Exciting Canadian films anticipated at festival 20th anniversary series includes unprecedented 12 debut features |work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref>

==Critical response== For ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', Rick Groen called the film a [[Southern Ontario Gothic|northern gothic]] spin on ''[[Something Wild (1986 film)|Something Wild]]'', and wrote that "the menace pulls up considerably short of skin-crawling suspense, while the sex lacks any real steam (unless you count a mild flirtation in the laundry room). These gaps may well be deliberate - Pozer's idea of comic dissonance - but the yuks just aren't there."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Groen |first=Rick |date=January 12, 1996 |title=Film Review: The Michelle Apartments |work=The Globe and Mail}}</ref> Jay Stone of the ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'' lambasted the film, writing that "This is independent cinema at its worst: self-indulgent, incompetent, charmless, empty. Needless to say, taxpayers helped fund it through the Ontario Film Development Corp. and [[Telefilm Canada]]. If this is the best we can do, maybe it's time to pull the plug and let [[Disney]] take over altogether."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stone |first=Jay |date=February 12, 1996 |title=Film deserves all the neglect it's getting |work=[[Ottawa Citizen]]}}</ref> Brendan Kelly of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said the film "covers '[[Twin Peaks]]'-like turf but just doesn't have enough comic smarts".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Brendan |date=October 2, 1995 |title=The Michelle Apartments |url=https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/the-michelle-apartments-1200443574/ |access-date=May 24, 2023 |website=Variety}}</ref>

Peter Birnie of the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'' reviewed the film more favourably, writing that "The Michelle Apartments is unnecessarily busy, especially in cafe scenes cute enough to bounce into a Bounty ad, but there's still strong impetus to Pozer's strange vision. [[Lynne Stopkewich]] designs a town of [[George Orwell|Orwellian]] disproportions, Peter Wunstorf photographs it all in shades of gaudy menace and [[Mark Korven]]'s music makes this address arch enough to be fun."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Birnie |first=Peter |date=October 10, 1995 |title=Design strengthens strange Pozer vision |work=[[Vancouver Sun]]}}</ref>

==Awards== The film received two [[Genie Award]] nominations at the [[16th Genie Awards]], for [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Sound Editing|Best Sound Editing]] (Paul Shikata, Tim Roberts, Andy Malcolm, [[Paul Germann]], Steven Munro) and [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] (Korven).<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1995 |title=Lepage leads Genie nominees |work=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0113810}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelle Apartments, The}} [[Category:1995 films]] [[Category:1995 black comedy films]] [[Category:1995 Canadian films]] [[Category:1995 English-language films]] [[Category:Alliance Films films]] [[Category:Canadian black comedy films]] [[Category:English-language Canadian films]] [[Category:Films directed by John Pozer]] [[Category:Films scored by Mark Korven]] [[Category:English-language black comedy films]]