The Visitor(2008)

Independent

PG-13
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language
1h 44m
- Drama

Release Date: Apr 11, 2008 | Limited

A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.

Note: Distributed by Overture Films

Releases

Original Release | Apr 11, 2008

2025 Re-release (Utopia) | Mar 7, 2025

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$9,443,451
Total International
$8,770,429
Total Worldwide:
$18,213,880

Total US & Canada:
$9,427,089
Total International
$8,770,429
Total Worldwide:
$18,197,518

Current Showtimes

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(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Tom McCarthy
Director

Finn Jones
Robert Burrows

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English,French,Arabic,Romanian

Summaries

Plot Summary

Widowed Connecticut College economics professor Walter Vale lives a fairly solitary existence. He fills his hours by taking piano lessons in an effort to emulate his late wife, a classical concert pianist, and works on a new book, although his efforts at both are not producing encouraging results. When he is asked to present a paper at a conference at New York University, he hesitates to comply, given he is only the nominal co-author and never even read the paper. Charles, his department head, persists, and Walter is forced to attend.When he arrives at the apartment he maintains in Manhattan, he is startled to discover a young couple living there, having rented it from a swindler who claimed it was his. They are Tarek, a Palestinian-Syrian[5] djembe player, and Zainab, a Senegalese designer of ethnic jewelry. He later discovers both are illegal immigrants. Although they have no place to go, they hastily pack and leave, but Walter follows them and persuades them to return. Over the next few days, a friendship slowly develops. Tarek teaches Walter to play the drum, and the two men join a group of others at an impromptu drum circle in Central Park.En route home, Tarek is mistakenly charged with subway turnstile jumping, arrested for failing to pay his fare, and taken to a detention center for illegal immigrants in Queens. In order to prevent Tarek's deportation, Walter hires an immigration lawyer. Feeling uncomfortable about remaining in the apartment with Walter, Zainab moves out to live with relatives in the Bronx.Tarek's mother, Mouna, unexpectedly arrives from her home in Michigan when she is unable to contact her son. Also in the States illegally, she accepts Walter's offer to stay in the apartment, and the two develop a friendship. Walter confesses his life is unfullfilling: He dislikes the single course he has taught for twenty years, and the book he allegedly is writing is nowhere near completion. It is revealed that Mouna's journalist husband died following a lengthy politically-motivated imprisonment in Syria, and she is concerned about her son's future prospects if he is deported. The two begin to share a simple domestic existence, with Mouna preparing meals and Walter treating her to The Phantom of the Opera when she mentions her love for the original cast recording Tarek sent her as a gift.Without warning, Tarek is summarily deported to Syria, and Mouna decides to follow him. Alone once again, Walter plays his drum on a subway platform, as Tarek once told him he himself would like to do some time.

Storyline

Lonely widower Professor Walter Vale has a boring life in Connecticut. He teaches only one class at the local college and is trying to learn how to play the piano, despite lacking the necessary musical talent. Walter is assigned to attend a conference about Global Policy and Development at New York University and give a lecture about a paper he co-authored. When he arrives at his New York apartment, he finds Tarek Khalil, a Syrian musician, and Zainab, a Senegalese street vendor, living there. He sympathizes with the illegal immigrants' situation and invites the couple to stay with him. Tarek invites him to go to his gig at Jules Live Jazz. Walter is fascinated with his African drum and Tarek offers to teach Walter how to play it. However, after an incident in the subway, Tarek is arrested and sent to a detention center for illegal immigrants. Walter has just hired a lawyer to defend Tarek when, out of the blue, Tarek's mother Mouna arrives at the apartment from Michigan. He invites her to stay in Tarek's room, and while trying to get Tarek released, Walter and Mouna get close to each other and he finds reasons to feel life can be exciting and worth living again. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Walter Vale is a sullen, lonely economics professor in Connecticut, teaching only one class--the same one he's taught for 20 years--ostensibly so he can work on his book, but he isn't; while he's 'co-authoring' with a tenure-tracked colleague, his connection is in name only, nor does he want anything to do with it. Although he has no aptitude for it, his one desire is to learn to play the piano to feel connected to his deceased pianist wife. On a business trip to New York City, he finds two people living in the seldom-used apartment he has there: Syrian drummer Tarek Khalil and his girlfriend, Senegalese-born jewelry maker Zainab, who were duped by an acquaintance into believing they were renting the apartment. As Tarek and Zainab have nowhere to go, Walter allows them to stay in his apartment temporarily. Although Zainab feels uncomfortable around Walter, Tarek draws him into his life through their shared love of music, especially Tarek's African drumming. Their acquaintance evolves into genuine friendship and reawakens Walter to life. A misunderstanding on the subway leads to Tarek's arrest and the revelation that Tarek and Zainab are illegal immigrants. After he is transferred to an immigration detention center in Queens, Walter hires an immigration lawyer and acts as liaison between Tarek and Zainab. Tarek's mother, Michigan-based Mouna Khalil, comes to New York unexpectedly because she hasn't heard from her son in days. She too is in the U.S. illegally and cannot visit Tarek. Helping Tarek becomes Walter's new focus in life and his means to re-enter the world of the living. — Huggo