The Stranger

It is sheer coincidence that brought Paul ( Steve Mouzakis ) and Henry ( Sean Harris ) together when they are both on a bus bound for western Australia. A happy coincidence. Not only that both get along well right away. They also help each other. Henry is helpful when Paul wants to buy a car. In turn, he offers him a job, he knows someone there. A short time later, this is how Henry met Mark ( Joel Edgerton) who actually got him a few smaller jobs. His gang makes money off drugs when they’re not busy cleaning up crimes. And so they spend some time together in the following, get to know each other better, and even make friends. But in reality, there is something completely different behind it…

When it comes to luring people in front of the screens with true crimes, Netflix is ​​known to always be there. There are countless true crime documentaries, most recently Into the Deep: The Murder on the Submarine or The Crimes of Our Mother. But versions of the murderous events embodied by actors and actresses can also be found in the range from time to time. The streaming service is currently celebrating great success with Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer and The Watcher. In this respect, it is not particularly surprising that the film The Stranger has a kernel of truth. And yet this one can hardly be compared to the above titles – or even other representatives of this special form of entertainment.

It starts with the fact that director and screenwriter Thomas M. Wright doesn’t reveal what the crime at the center of the film is supposed to be. And even when it becomes clear what happened, he refuses to behave in the typical true crime manner. There are no text panels or images of the template to emphasize that this all really happened. If you don’t find out from other sources that a real case was the inspiration, you probably wouldn’t even think of it. Because that’s not what The Stranger is about. Thrills that come with chills before violent events were not on the Australian filmmaker’s priority list, the actors in titles like Sweet Country were to be seen and deliver his second directorial work here.