The Roommate: Why Was Rebecca Obsessed with Sara?

The Roommate centers college freshman Rebecca’s obsession with her new roommate Sara — here’s a breakdown of where that infatuation came from.

The film follows Sara, played by Minka Kelly, as she travels from the Midwest to begin her college career out in Los Angeles. Her new roommate is from the area and promises to show her around the city. Sara and Rebecca bond, but Sara also expands horizons and makes new friends and starts to date a boy on her new college campus. Rebecca, played by Leighton Meester, becomes possessive and jealous of Sara.

Rebecca’s behavior reaches dangerous proportions. Rebecca hurts herself and others just to attempt to win Sara’s good graces and keep her roommate all to herself. The Roommate explores Rebecca’s background a bit to reveal where these behaviors might stem from. As it turns out, Rebecca was an incredibly lonely kid growing up. As misguided as it was, those feelings are what drove her actions in the events of The Roommate.

Rebecca’s Loneliness Influenced Her Actions in The Roommate

Early on in the film, Rebecca shares with Sara that she always longed for a sister. This is an early flag that Rebecca’s inherent loneliness fueled her dangerous behavior. She and Sara bond quickly, so Rebecca assumes they have forged a unique and sisterly-like bond. But once Sara becomes close to her new friends and boyfriend, Sara decides that she wants that bond all to herself. She changes her appearance mirror Sara’s, in hopes that her roommate will like her more. She scares Sara’s friends away so she’ll have no one else to turn to besides her.

As Sara lives far away, Rebecca invites home with her for Thanksgiving. Based on her interactions with those around her, it’s clear that loneliness has plagued Rebecca her whole life. Her relationship with her parents appears to be incredibly cold and formal. Rebecca runs into an old classmate when she and Sara are out and about. Rebecca clearly assumed they were friends, but her classmate bluntly informs her that was never the case.

Once Sara reciprocates that bond that she so desperately desires and never found, Rebecca will stop at nothing to keep it all to herself. Rebecca takes things too far as she murders Sara’s kitten and mutilates herself to retain that sisterly relationship she believes she has with Sara. As she goes to such extreme measures, it’s possible that Rebecca had other underlying issues that contributed to this behavior. But desperation and loneliness can push people to commit outlandish acts, and that’s what drove Rebecca’s actions in The Roommate.

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