You are here:

The Penthouse

Name: The Penthouse
Director: Stepan Burnashev
Released: 2026
Duration: 102 min

Representation Score

4.9/10

Fair

2026

TV-MA

Director

Stepan Burnashev

Runtime

102 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The Penthouse opens with Saina Nakajima, a Sakha woman from Yakutia, settling into a Kuala Lumpur penthouse with her husband David and infant son. The film’s argument rests on the friction between Saina’s animist heritage and the sterile, secular luxury of their new home. Saina is the active agent, performing rituals and managing the household, while David functions as a passive observer who minimizes her experiences. The sold meaning is one of cultural resilience; Saina’s identity is not a stereotype but a specific, lived reality that drives the thriller’s tension. The ending, implied by the genre and synopsis, likely resolves through Saina’s assertion of her cultural and domestic authority. The film treats traditional femininity and ethnic specificity as sources of strength, positioning the Westernized, secular default as the hollow background against which Saina’s authentic self is defined.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Penthouse have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

No queer characters or relationships appear. The narrative centers exclusively on the heterosexual couple Saina and David. Identity markers are absent from credits and synopsis.

How does The Penthouse portray gender?

Good

Saina manages domestic labor and spiritual rituals as the anxious moral center. David dismisses her fears as imagination. Traditional femininity drives the plot’s tension and competence.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Penthouse?

Good

Saina, a Sakha woman from Yakutia, anchors the story in a Malaysian setting. Her distinct ethnic identity is central to the plot. Her folklore is treated with specific cultural detail.

How does The Penthouse represent religion and culture?

Good

Sakha animist beliefs contrast with secular Malaysian modernity. Saina’s spiritual practices function as legitimate agency. The penthouse emphasizes class mobility over outright cultural hostility.

Does The Penthouse include disability representation?

Minimal

No physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities are depicted. Saina’s psychological distress and fear of heights are framed as emotional responses to the environment, not disability.

Present on Screen

Sakha protagonist navigates a non-Western urban landscape with specific cultural detail.
Domestic labor and spiritual rituals function as active plot drivers.
Heteronormative family unit serves as the central narrative focus.

Limited or Absent

No queer representation or non-heterosexual dynamics appear in the narrative.
No disabled characters or disability narratives are depicted.
Male character remains largely passive and dismissive throughout.

Official Synopsis

"The Penthouse" is a psychological thriller that follows Saina and David, a young family who moves into a luxurious penthouse in Kuala Lumpur to start a new life.

How are these scores produced? →