As "The Stranger " (2022 release from Australia; 116 min) opens, we are introduced to Paul and Henry, 2 strangers who strike up a conversation on an overnight bus drive (think Greyhound). They gain each other's trust, and at Paul's invite, Henry joins him for an unspecified job Paul must do for Mark. "No violence!. Pleads Henry, and he agrees to join us. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the second feature from Australian actor-turned-director Thomas Wright. Almost from the get-go I found something very David Lynch-like about this movie. Yes, nominally it's about a long ago disappearance, likely murder, of a young man. But it's the journey along the way that really matters in this film. I had the hardest time figuring out what was really going on for a long time. BEWARE: it is imperative that you turn on the English subtitles to fully grasp what is happening. I made the mistake of starting without the subtitles and within 10 minutes realized I was missing half the dialogue, if not more. I restarted the movie with subtitles and that turned out to be a life saver. The movie is mysterious all the way up to the end, and I absolutely loved it. The only "star" that I recognized was Joel Edgerton (as Mark), and he was superb. I fully recognize that this movie is not for everyone, as there is not a lot of "action". Instead it's a mystery that reveals itself, layer upon psychological layer.

"The Stranger" premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. Still it bypassed US theaters altogether, and it started streaming on Netflix not long ago. Netflix suggested it to me based on my viewing habits. Good move Netflix. If you are in the mood for a dark psychological crime drama from Down Under, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

The Stranger is a darkly spoken and sometimes convoluted, yet an incredibly bleak and stomach-churning Australian true crime drama that's tough to think about and not for everyone. A viewer doesn't need to know or have even really heard about the Daniel Morcombe case, in which The Stranger is based on catching the child's killer, to see the obvious strength and effort put into this movie, although it's completely easy to see why the reviews are so mixed, and why others hated this movie and thought it was boring and dull.

Actors Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris both give equally as powerful performance throughout, following Edgerton as an undercover cop who is tasked with forming a serious relationship with Harris enrolling a murder/kidnapping suspect in order to gain his trust and elicit a confession. Despite this being a very slow movie that you couldn't really call truly entertaining, you need to start off by paying attention, because the film dives into its plot without much character development, which considering it nearly reaches the brink of 2 hours, it could definitely use some backstory for the characters.

The colours and looks of every scene in this movie are just as dark and bleak as the subject matter. There's no visual light where there's no light side to the themes of child abduction and murder. A big turn-off for a lot of people will also be the dialogue, not only being slow, but with a very Australian accent and mumbled talking, which very much suits the tone and characters appearances, but you'll need subtitles to not finish feeling completely muffled. The Stranger isn't a film you can just watch when you're falling asleep in bed, it demands your full attention and if you aren't completely bored by the pacing, it's worth sticking through to the end.

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Easily the most tension film I have watched in years. The story is riveting, dark, and complex. As someone with 32 years in law enforcement, including undercover activity (far sumpler and more short term than what is portrayed in this film), I'll assert this was a masterpiece that definitely had some experienced technical advisors. My wife and I were both transfixes by the journey of both the suspect and the undercover as they slowly and carefully inched toward the revelation of the truth. Not a film I would let any child under 13 watch, possibly even a couple years older. It's a great film, but certainly not easy to watch at many points.