[6] In 1920, rural Ireland, Anglo-Irish twins Rachel (Charlotte Vega) and Edward (Bill Milner) share an isolated existence in their crumbling family estate.

Each night, the property becomes the domain of sinister watery presences ("the lodgers") which enforce three rules upon the twins: they must be in bed by midnight; they may not permit an outsider past the threshold; if one attempts to escape, the life of the other is placed in jeopardy.

[12] Jonathan Barken from Dread Central wrote: "Delicately crafted, The Lodgers is a richly woven tapestry of classically inspired gothic horror.

"[13] Chris Alexander from ComingSoon.net wrote: "There hasn’t been a more effective, disturbing and sensorially pleasing film of this kind since Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others and, like that masterpiece, O’Malley’s artful, lurid and meticulously orchestrated exercise in atmosphere, pretty misery and dread seeps deep under your skin.

"[14] Justin Lowe from The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "finely attuned, atmospheric filmmaking more likely to catch the attention of art house aficionados than dedicated horror fans.

"[15] Noel Murray from the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Until its suspenseful final 15 minutes, The Lodgers is frustratingly stingy with the scares, mostly limiting the spooky stuff to creaky noises and the recurring image of water dripping upward...(the film) isn't especially frightening, but as the story of people weighed down by their legacies, it is genuinely haunting.

"[16] Manohla Dargis from The New York Times said about the film: "Working with an uneven cast and an undercooked story, Mr. O’Malley hits the horror beats just fine (slam, creak, squeak) without putting a sinister spin on the assorted strange doings.

"[18] Simon Abrams from RogerEbert.com gave the film two out of four stars and wrote: "The Lodgers disappoints on a number of levels, many of which have more to do with the limitations of its creators' imagination than the apparently minuscule budget.