Past Tenant (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Past Tenant is a six-minute comedy-fantasy short centered on an unusually difficult housing dispute. When a Sydney resident tries to remove a roommate who refuses to pay rent, the obstacle is not a stubborn tenant but a ghost, setting up a compact supernatural farce.

Past Tenant turns a familiar rental problem into a supernatural comedy. The six-minute short follows a Sydney resident whose unpaid roommate presents an unusual complication: they are already dead.

Directed by Ricky Townsend and written by Kate Bubalo, the film uses its brief runtime to frame rent, flatmates and a ghost as the ingredients for a tightly focused comic premise.

Past Tenant movie details

Story without spoilers

The story follows Olive, a Sydneysider who needs to remove a roommate for refusing to pay rent. The dispute becomes considerably stranger when the roommate is revealed to be a ghost. From there, the situation escalates into madness and chaos, while the film remains centered on the basic problem of an unwanted tenant who will not leave.

What to expect

Past Tenant is classified as both comedy and fantasy, with a premise built around an everyday housing conflict and a supernatural roommate. Its six-minute runtime suggests a concise short-form setup rather than an extended narrative, focusing on the comic possibilities of rent, shared living and a tenant who exists beyond the grave.

Cast and creative team

Courtney Ally Miller plays Olive, with Matthew Cheetham as The Ghost and Melissa Brownlow as Tiffany. Ricky Townsend directs the short, and Kate Bubalo is credited as its writer.

• Courtney Ally Miller as Olive
• Matthew Cheetham as The Ghost
• Melissa Brownlow as Tiffany

Release and production context

Past Tenant is a 2026 short film with a listed release date of September 13, 2026. It runs for six minutes, is in English, and is associated with the Australian Film Television and Radio School. The supplied production information does not list a country.

Production companies: Australian Film Television and Radio School

Reported production figures:
Budget $450

Past Tenant official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

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With its compact runtime and clear supernatural housing premise, Past Tenant is structured as a brief comedy about the complications of sharing a home with someone who refuses to move on. The central conflict is straightforward, while the ghostly circumstance gives it its distinctive fantasy angle.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb