STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
Mark (Joel Edgerton) and Henry (Sean Harris) are two seemingly similar ne'er do wells who strike up a friendship on a journey home. Before long, they're doing jobs for feared crime bosses, and making names for themselves in the criminal underworld. But Mark hides a secret identity, and motive behind his relationship with Henry, and dogged Detective Rylett (Jada Alberts) has grander plans for his involvement with him, in the shape of a blood chilling crime involving a child in the woods many years ago.
Even in the age of the internet, with information spreading faster and very little able to stay under wraps, it's incredible the amount of stuff that still sort of slips out under the radar, with a minimum of publicity. The cinemas still rely on the dependable, crowd pleasing stuff to draw in audiences. One such example would be this moody, lingering effort, the second feature length piece from writer/director Thomas M. Wright, after 2018's Acute Misfortune. Luckily, it's the sort of stuff that's more likely to leave an impression, and even with its shortcomings, The Stranger definitely does that.
This is one intensely dark, brooding piece, offering very little in the way of light relief (and even when it does, with the darkest of humour), instead losing itself in a series of trance like voiceovers, sucking the viewer in to the burning, disturbed headspace of its lead protagonist. As said protagonist, Edgerton has a commanding, effective presence, to counter Harris in the supporting role, who's always been good in these unsettling psycho roles, and is true to form here. The problem is maybe that it is too drawn in to its own sense of darkness and psychosis, and loses the viewer in its own hazy stupor. In trying to compress a tale with such a shifting story arc together as one, it ultimately feels a little over indulgent and leaves you a little exhausted at the end.
If you're looking for intense, moody drama, unflinching and deep, then it definitely ticks all the right boxes, it just sometimes feels a bit unrelenting and overpacked, affecting its overall impact. ***
Mark (Joel Edgerton) and Henry (Sean Harris) are two seemingly similar ne'er do wells who strike up a friendship on a journey home. Before long, they're doing jobs for feared crime bosses, and making names for themselves in the criminal underworld. But Mark hides a secret identity, and motive behind his relationship with Henry, and dogged Detective Rylett (Jada Alberts) has grander plans for his involvement with him, in the shape of a blood chilling crime involving a child in the woods many years ago.
Even in the age of the internet, with information spreading faster and very little able to stay under wraps, it's incredible the amount of stuff that still sort of slips out under the radar, with a minimum of publicity. The cinemas still rely on the dependable, crowd pleasing stuff to draw in audiences. One such example would be this moody, lingering effort, the second feature length piece from writer/director Thomas M. Wright, after 2018's Acute Misfortune. Luckily, it's the sort of stuff that's more likely to leave an impression, and even with its shortcomings, The Stranger definitely does that.
This is one intensely dark, brooding piece, offering very little in the way of light relief (and even when it does, with the darkest of humour), instead losing itself in a series of trance like voiceovers, sucking the viewer in to the burning, disturbed headspace of its lead protagonist. As said protagonist, Edgerton has a commanding, effective presence, to counter Harris in the supporting role, who's always been good in these unsettling psycho roles, and is true to form here. The problem is maybe that it is too drawn in to its own sense of darkness and psychosis, and loses the viewer in its own hazy stupor. In trying to compress a tale with such a shifting story arc together as one, it ultimately feels a little over indulgent and leaves you a little exhausted at the end.
If you're looking for intense, moody drama, unflinching and deep, then it definitely ticks all the right boxes, it just sometimes feels a bit unrelenting and overpacked, affecting its overall impact. ***