The Stranger

UK Release Date. 15 October 2022
Certification. TV-MA
Running Time. 1 hour 57 mins
Director. Thomas M. Wright
Cast. Jada Alberts, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Steve Mouzakis.
Rating. 55%

Review.

Based on real events - one of Australia's most disturbing and confounding child abduction cases - and documented in Kate Kyriacou's 2015 bestseller, The Sting: The undercover operation that caught Daniel Morcombe's killer, The Stranger is a smouldering, atmospheric crime drama starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris.

Written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, for the most part, The Stranger appears as if the film is the story of two men - Mark Frame (Joel Edgerton) and Henry Teague (Sean Harris) - and the relationship developing between them, rather than a crime drama. 

There is nothing straightforward about The Stranger. The film demands the viewer's attention and requires considerable patience. The narrative is highly obtuse, but the intensity of the relationship between the two main characters ensures audience engagement throughout. Should your attention lapse for a split second, then you'll be liable to miss a seemingly inconsequential and fleeting piece of dialogue. More than likely, this snippet of dialogue will prove anything but inconsequential for the cleverly crafted storyline and minimalist script support several, significant reveals. Neither character is trustworthy or reliable and therefore every piece of evidence is required to coherently follow the storyline.

The Stranger is the antithesis of most crime thrillers, with Joel Edgerton's character, Mark Frame using empathy to establish trust with, and manipulate, Henry, as opposed to more conventional police methods. 

Ominous and foreboding, The Stranger is a slow burn. A film that is almost deliberately underwhelming, but equally compelling.