THE STRANGER
****
Director: Thomas M. Wright
Screenplay: Thomas M. Wright
Principal cast:
Joel Edgerton
Sean Harris
Jada Alberts
Ewen Leslie
Fletcher Humphrys
Steve Mouzakis
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 6 October 2022.
Writer/director Thomas M. Wright’s first film, Acute Misfortune, was a tough and brilliant representation of the short, doomed life of artist Adam Cullen. Now, for his second cinematic work, he’s made another tough and brilliant film drawn from real life. The Stranger is a dark depiction of a very crafty piece of police work carried out by detectives on the trail of a suspected child-killer. Wright accurately describes it as, “… a film about a relationship between a pathological liar and a professional one - a tightening knot of tension, lies and false realities - as the central figures are drawn from opposite sides toward inevitable resolution or collapse.” It's a tense and chilling drama featuring two superb performances in the lead roles, plus a host of equally proficient actors in the large supporting cast.
It is 2010 and two men, Henry (Sean Harris) and Paul (Steve Mouzakis), meet on an interstate bus trip and strike up an acquaintanceship. By the time the journey is over, Paul has offered to introduce his fellow traveller to a criminal group with which he is associated and Henry, although wary, has said he’s up for it. Not long after they arrive at their destination and having made introductions to some of the gang members, Paul tells Henry that he has to flee the country but another guy, Mark (Joel Edgerton), will be taking over from him. Over the days and weeks, as Mark and Henry make deliveries and collections for the gang, Henry is drawn further into the group’s hierarchy and the two men get more familiar with each other. Indeed, they become so close that Henry admits to Mark that he’s the only friend he’s ever had. What Henry doesn’t know is that his new-found mate is a detective, part of a massive national sting operation. What he does know, however, is that he is also hiding a shocking secret from Mark.
The Stranger is a tour-de-force on many fronts. Edgerton was one of the main driving forces behind the project, nursing it along for years and he is credited as one of the film’s producers. Having read The Sting, a book about a years-long undercover police operation, he wanted “to explore a world that we don't know about. There are things that go on that allow us to put our heads on the pillow a little bit easier every night, knowing that somebody else is looking after things - the police force in this case, and I say the same about operative soldiers.” He says, “I’m fascinated by people that operate at a level that allows us to not have to think about the darker things,” and it was he who approached Wright to write and direct the feature. Fortunately, Wright was also fascinated by the relationship between the two protagonists, the decent cop and his depraved prey and the psychological complexity of their ‘friendship’. The script delves into this bizarre association in clever, subtle ways – we never see a crime, much of what we see and hear are conversations eked out in short, rasping sentences and spare dialogue – so that we are often in the dark as to what exactly is happening on-screen. Simon Njoo’s disjointed, fractured edit adds to this sense of discomposure, as does Oliver Coates’ frugal score and the excellent sound design. Cinematographer Sam Chiplin used anamorphic lenses to give The Stranger a super wide-screen look and keep the captured images “as raw, stripped back and simplistic” as possible (his words). This, plus the fact that a lot of the movie was shot at night, match the disturbing elements of Wright’s screenplay and make both the interiors and exteriors (South Australia standing in for WA) seem darkly ominous.
Edgerton and Harris are broodingly magnificent. These would have been exceedingly difficult roles to play and they have risen to the occasion with consummate skill (the pair had worked together before, on David Michôd’s award-winning The King). Both men lost a considerable amount of weight and grew their hair and beards while preparing for the film but it’s the psychological preparation that would have taken the greatest toll on them. Harris had to spend two weeks in COVID-isolation upon his arrival in Australia and he used the time to stew on his role. He says, “I had nothing to do but think about the script and think about Henry. It was a quiet discipline; there were no distractions. I started to make a few videos of myself as Henry and I began to see a physical transformation. That was really a breakthrough moment for me. It's not just words on a page anymore… it's a living, breathing thing.” For his part, Edgerton had been thinking about The Stranger for five years, so he was supremely familiar with Mark and able to totally inhabit his character. Their names should be on this year’s acting awards nominations.
The Stranger is a hard film about hard men and a hard subject. It’s not an escapist cinema-going experience and won’t appeal to everyone but if you want an authentic look into the life of undercover cops and the difficult job they perform, this is it. It’s one of the most powerful films on the subject you will see.
Screenplay: Thomas M. Wright
Principal cast:
Joel Edgerton
Sean Harris
Jada Alberts
Ewen Leslie
Fletcher Humphrys
Steve Mouzakis
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 117 mins.
Australian release date: 6 October 2022.
Writer/director Thomas M. Wright’s first film, Acute Misfortune, was a tough and brilliant representation of the short, doomed life of artist Adam Cullen. Now, for his second cinematic work, he’s made another tough and brilliant film drawn from real life. The Stranger is a dark depiction of a very crafty piece of police work carried out by detectives on the trail of a suspected child-killer. Wright accurately describes it as, “… a film about a relationship between a pathological liar and a professional one - a tightening knot of tension, lies and false realities - as the central figures are drawn from opposite sides toward inevitable resolution or collapse.” It's a tense and chilling drama featuring two superb performances in the lead roles, plus a host of equally proficient actors in the large supporting cast.
It is 2010 and two men, Henry (Sean Harris) and Paul (Steve Mouzakis), meet on an interstate bus trip and strike up an acquaintanceship. By the time the journey is over, Paul has offered to introduce his fellow traveller to a criminal group with which he is associated and Henry, although wary, has said he’s up for it. Not long after they arrive at their destination and having made introductions to some of the gang members, Paul tells Henry that he has to flee the country but another guy, Mark (Joel Edgerton), will be taking over from him. Over the days and weeks, as Mark and Henry make deliveries and collections for the gang, Henry is drawn further into the group’s hierarchy and the two men get more familiar with each other. Indeed, they become so close that Henry admits to Mark that he’s the only friend he’s ever had. What Henry doesn’t know is that his new-found mate is a detective, part of a massive national sting operation. What he does know, however, is that he is also hiding a shocking secret from Mark.
The Stranger is a tour-de-force on many fronts. Edgerton was one of the main driving forces behind the project, nursing it along for years and he is credited as one of the film’s producers. Having read The Sting, a book about a years-long undercover police operation, he wanted “to explore a world that we don't know about. There are things that go on that allow us to put our heads on the pillow a little bit easier every night, knowing that somebody else is looking after things - the police force in this case, and I say the same about operative soldiers.” He says, “I’m fascinated by people that operate at a level that allows us to not have to think about the darker things,” and it was he who approached Wright to write and direct the feature. Fortunately, Wright was also fascinated by the relationship between the two protagonists, the decent cop and his depraved prey and the psychological complexity of their ‘friendship’. The script delves into this bizarre association in clever, subtle ways – we never see a crime, much of what we see and hear are conversations eked out in short, rasping sentences and spare dialogue – so that we are often in the dark as to what exactly is happening on-screen. Simon Njoo’s disjointed, fractured edit adds to this sense of discomposure, as does Oliver Coates’ frugal score and the excellent sound design. Cinematographer Sam Chiplin used anamorphic lenses to give The Stranger a super wide-screen look and keep the captured images “as raw, stripped back and simplistic” as possible (his words). This, plus the fact that a lot of the movie was shot at night, match the disturbing elements of Wright’s screenplay and make both the interiors and exteriors (South Australia standing in for WA) seem darkly ominous.
Edgerton and Harris are broodingly magnificent. These would have been exceedingly difficult roles to play and they have risen to the occasion with consummate skill (the pair had worked together before, on David Michôd’s award-winning The King). Both men lost a considerable amount of weight and grew their hair and beards while preparing for the film but it’s the psychological preparation that would have taken the greatest toll on them. Harris had to spend two weeks in COVID-isolation upon his arrival in Australia and he used the time to stew on his role. He says, “I had nothing to do but think about the script and think about Henry. It was a quiet discipline; there were no distractions. I started to make a few videos of myself as Henry and I began to see a physical transformation. That was really a breakthrough moment for me. It's not just words on a page anymore… it's a living, breathing thing.” For his part, Edgerton had been thinking about The Stranger for five years, so he was supremely familiar with Mark and able to totally inhabit his character. Their names should be on this year’s acting awards nominations.
The Stranger is a hard film about hard men and a hard subject. It’s not an escapist cinema-going experience and won’t appeal to everyone but if you want an authentic look into the life of undercover cops and the difficult job they perform, this is it. It’s one of the most powerful films on the subject you will see.