‘The Stranger’ VOD Review
Stars: Jennifer Preston, Isabella Percival, Damian Ashley, Jake Francis | Written and Directed by Mike Clarke, Paul Gerrard
It truly is the age-old question I believe all women ask themselves. How do you move on in life after the brutal murder of your husband? The answer is always the same. You go ahead and buy then move into a creepy-as-shit secluded bed and breakfast and welcome the first creepy weirdo that drops by into your life. That’s a thing people do right?
As you may all know by now I am a huge lover and supporter of the lower-budget independent films out there. It tends to yield positive results by way of some unsung gems and truly inspired performances.
Enter, The Stranger. A movie I had heard the odd thing about on the festival circuit. we are seeing a bit of a boom in the horror scene in the UK with flicks like Walking Against the Rain, Hosts and the delightful Eating Miss Campbell. I choose those movies in particular on account of the fact they are flipping certain aspects of the genre on their heads. The Stranger is no different in that aspect with what looks to be a home invasion thriller turning into so much more than you bargained for.
Following the brutal death of her husband, Amanda (Jennifer Preston) and her reluctant daughter Karli (Isabella Percival) uproot and move across the country to start up a new bed and breakfast business. No sooner have they arrived when young man Kyle (Damian Ashley) turns up at their door. After talking Karli into letting him stay we begin to realise there is something not quite right about Kyle as the relationship between mother and daughter is stretched to its limits by the somewhat overbearing presence of their guest and the otherworldly nature of their circumstances.
The Stranger is a prime example of directors having little to no budget, getting the right crew behind the camera, casting actors with unreal talent and smashing through the limits of low-budget filmmaking to bring us a gorgeous, scintillating, edge-of-your-seat, horror/thriller that – given a chance – could find a really cool audience that would embrace and accept this flick for what it is. Mike Clarke and Paul Gerrard have all of the required tools to stretch resources and make sure it’s all up there on the screen, creating a dark atmospheric tense and at times hyper surreal thriller. It’s so rare to find a movie that is confident enough to just leave the camera there and know the viewer won’t just pick up their phone because there haven’t been any explosions. Those moments are where this movie is at its best.
Performance wise we have Jennifer K Preston as mum Amanda who, for my money, is quietly holding this trio of actors together. Both providing a solid foundation for her younger co-stars whilst also elevating them to the next level. With a role like this I tend to find it’s more about what the actor isn’t doing and with a flick like this it’s pretty easy to over egg the role but none of our cast are doing this here and Preston is truly believable in the situation. Loved her in this role.
Damian Ashley as Kyle is superb. From the moment he hits the screen there is this frenetic, almost palpable, energy that runs through the entirety of the movie. Even when Ashley isn’t on screen the mere possibility he is about to enter the frame is enough to keep you on edge. When the wheels begin to fall off for our cast the commitment to stepping up a notch is top quality. Ashley is someone I absolutely need to see more of and can see a future star in the making.
Rounding out the cast we have Isabella Percival as Karli in a very nuanced role that honestly we don’t have enough time to really deep dive into during the film, but Percival does more than enough to make us care for our strained mother/daughter relationship and her arc throughout. We also have the hardest working Brit actor on the indie scene and all-around perfect gent Jake Francis in here in a small but pivotal role and, as always, he does the job and does the job well.
All in all, I’m a fan of this taut thriller, it doesn’t really do anything wrong and isn’t afraid to move along at its own pace. The Stranger is not a perfect movie by any stretch and has some budget restraints but you wouldn’t really know this given that we do have some VFX in here that would stand up against most movies out there.
This film comes with a strong recommendation to give it a watch. It is important to support these movies for sure but more than that films like The Stranger and Walking Against the Rain, I can confidently say are some of my favourite thrillers I have seen in recent years.
