I came into this film knowing very little, especially not that The Stranger, directed by Thomas M. Wright, is a true crime film. Based on The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer by Kate Kyriacou, the film is a fictionalised version of events following a taskforce working to substantiate evidence of a person of interest’s involvement in the disappearance of a young teenager, focusing on the psychological impact such involvement in a taskforce can have on someone close to the centre.
From the opening moments of The Stranger a disconcerting ambiance is constructed. The visuals are dark, at points hard to see, and many shots are uncomfortably close to characters. The sound design is in my opinion the best part of the film’s construction, the lack of soundtrack pronounced, and the mixing at points masterfully edited to reflect bugged vehicles, tape recorders, and more generally the sounds of rurality. As a crime thriller we are placed around the perspective of Mark (Joel Edgerton), a man trying to get close to Henry Teague (Sean Harris) to work out if he killed the missing boy almost ten years prior. Punctuating the film are his nightmares, a reflection of his stress surrounding the case and the fears he has about how it could impact his life, the people he loves.
Though there is an expanded cast the focus is on the relationship between Mark and Henry, with Mark holding all the cards and working out when best to play them to reach a resolution to the case. Edgerton and Harris play off each other fantastically and create an engaging and suspenseful dynamic as we wait for when, or if, the other shoe is going to drop.
Though the atmosphere of suspense and stress is well maintained through all the moving parts of the film a place it falls short is the cinematography. Majority of the shots feel standard which was not at all a problem. My issue, instead, was with attempts at points to create shots that seemed designed with the purpose of making the audience notice the cinematography, to say “look at this shot, isn’t it well-framed?” Of the three times I noticed shots like this two felt justified in their confidence, but felt out of place with the cinematography of the rest of the film. This is a minimal complaint though as the rest of the cinematography wasn’t bad by any stretch, it just wasn’t the focal point which is fair given how strong the writing, acting, and sound were.
Ultimately my issue with the film comes down to the ethics of true crime. As with any true crime feature there is the question of whether it’s respectful to make it given the impact it will have on those affected by the crime. Though names have been changed and from a fictionalised point of view this is a strong character-driven story it still brings attention to the real-life criminal, a man who murdered a young boy and should not be given the time of day again so long as he lives. As the film focuses on the sting operation we are never given the perspective of the boy’s family, who chose not to be involved in the making of the film. It becomes a testament of “look how twisted this man is” which, while true, also gives him a sort of power through the attention he’ll receive.
The Stranger (2022) is a well-made film which in the modern era of true crime interest I have no doubt will find great popularity, especially given its release via Netflix. Many will learn about the machinations of a twisted man, his victim falls into the shadows of the story that discusses this, and the victim’s surviving family will likely be subject of attention they’d rather avoid, reopening wounds that can never, will never heal.
8/10