Prepare to be perplexed. I don't know what I watched, but it was well played. I may have to re-watch it a couple of times to bend my mind around what is happening in the story. It's surely confounding, but it doesn't feel like a mind-trip. It nags on me as if, perhaps, I wasn't following closely enough and missed important plot artifacts.

This one firmly classifies as a psychological thriller, it is far more cerebral than action-oriented and it's not suited for lazy popcorn viewing. It's strongly atmospheric and leads the viewer questioning what is real, imaginary or a dream. The film nods at several interpretations of events.

The run time seems short, and I've read elsewhere online that this movie is based off of a short film, a possibility that does makes sense. One element I found distracting is how much Pettyfer resembles Ryan Phillipe both in appearance and mannerism, it's like Phillipe was deliberately channeled.

I may change my rating following subsequent viewing. I suggest watching a trailer or two before deciding if this film thrills you or kills you.

Greetings again from the darkness. Having been well received at film festivals throughout 2017, this film is journey of patience for both the characters and its viewers. Co-directors Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein have expanded their 2011 short film into their first feature length film, and though some evidence of 'stretching' is present, so is a somber, moody style that provides an interesting look and feel.

It's more mysterious and atmospheric than it is thriller, and at times it even has a "Twilight Zone" vibe. Nick (Alex Pettyfer) and Sam (James Freedson-Jackson) are traveling together as brothers, though we never really believe they are related. An impending dread hovers around each move they make, and the film tortures/teases us with unspecified relationships and connections. Nick and Sam are semi-desperate and clearly on the run, yet it's not until the end when things somewhat come together.

Young Freedson-Jackson is the key to the film, and his facial reactions are critical. His astounding blank stares seem to hold meaning. It's a bleak film with a gloomy tone, and while I'm all for slow and deliberate story-telling, the technique is usually more effective when there is a reason for it. This is a deep cut indie that lacks mass appeal, but for those patient enough to commit, the supernatural aura will likely keep you engaged for the run time.

Early in "The Strange Ones," there is a crucial scene in which the two main characters, the twenty-something Nick and the teenage Sam, are on the road, clearly running away from their past. Sam's home has been burnt to the ground, and, inside, the body of his father has been found, not a victim of the fire, but of being bludgeoned to death.

Nick and Sam arrive at a motel with an inviting swimming pool. The kind lady proprietor offers them free lodging during the off season. But then, the young kid Sam has a conversation with the woman, in which he calls his "brother" a liar and suggests that the woman may be in danger due to the brother's penchant for violence. Afterwards, Nick and Sam make a quick exit from the motel after the woman has likely shown them the door.

What are we to make of Sam's advice to the hotel manager? Was he telling the truth about his psychotic older friend? Or was he lying because he himself is the psycho and is only behaving like the sadistic little kid that he is?

The film keeps the audience guessing about the true nature of the road buddies, and it does so with psychological symbols and archetypes, such as the black cat, the cave, and the Oedipal complex.

One might argue that the film is overly manipulative of its audience. In one scene at a wilderness retreat for young people, the wily man who heads up the program asks Sam to recount his recurring nightmare. The audience views the nightmare in which Sam kills his father. But is the dream a distortion of reality, or was this a true depiction of the murder?

One of the strengths of the film is the evocation of a sinister mood. An ominous feeling hovers over most of the scenes and the characters. While walking through the woods, Nick and Sam encounter a middle age couple, and the mundane conversation is filled with dark undercurrents. Sam arrives at the children's camp and observes a couple of the boys engaged in theft or some activity that is verboten; they insist to Sam that he not reveal what he saw to the camp manager. Is this really recreational camp for youngsters, or is it a penal colony/rehab center for juvenile delinquents?

In the most bizarre scene of all, a female classmate of Sam has invited him to live in her home after the death of his father. But the scene in the bedroom with two teenagers is grotesque, unwholesome, and disturbing, especially when the young woman reveals that she covered for Sam when telling the police that he was just joking when he texted her that he wanted to kill his father! She also waxes philosophical when saying that "You never really know a person, you know." And yet, she seems to know all of the intimate details of the troubled history of young Sam. In the scene following the bedroom conversation, Sam hightails it out of the house with his backpack, heading back to the wilderness.

This ominous road picture about two young males who at best are pathological liars and at worst cold blooded murderers and arsonists, may be summed up in this snippet of dialogue:

--"Where are we?" --"Nowhere."

Indeed, the state of mind of the two strange ones may not be found on any traditional road map, but only in the deepest, darkest caverns of the human psyche.