Directed by Thomas Wright. Available on Netflix. Reviewed by Paul Sorrell

Frustrated with scrolling through endless titles in search of something that would both entertain and make me think, I took to googling “best thrillers on Netflix.” Up popped The Stranger (2022), an Australian psychological thriller based on a true crime case, given a 92 per cent critics’ rating by Rotten Tomatoes.

Thriller it may be, but there are no Hollywood histrionics, manic car chases or serial explosions. The characters and settings are stripped of all glamour as the film traverses grimy suburbs and drab country towns, mainly in Western Australia. Many scenes are shot at night and colours are washed out or shrouded in shadow. The film’s claustrophobic atmosphere, both indoors and out, evokes a sense of entrapment.

Entrapment lies at the heart of the film. The mainspring of the action is a police operation known as a “Mr Big”, whereby officers, posing as a criminal gang, go undercover to ensnare a suspect and elicit a confession. Here the suspect is Henry Teague (Sean Harris), a quiet drifter and petty criminal, who is in the frame for the abduction and murder of a boy in Queensland eight years earlier. For the police involved in the sting, drawn from interstate forces, the elaborate fictional world into which they draw the hapless Henry carries many risks.

While maintaining this ploy drives the tension, at the heart of the film is the developing relationship between Henry and Mark (Joel Edgerton), the undercover officer assigned as his minder. As the pair drive around WA, ostensibly picking up contraband or delivering fake papers, a curious trust develops between them. The scene where Henry puts on a record and dances to Icehouse’s “Trojan Blue” -— his attempt to please Mark who has just admitted that music has never been a part of his life — marks a significant stage in their relationship.

But as Mark begins to unravel mentally and spiritually, the noose tightens around Henry as he is summoned to a coronial inquest in Queensland, site of the cold case where he is the prime suspect. It seems that all that is needed for a conviction is a watertight confession that the “gang” can extract under the guise of their oft-repeated demand for Henry’s total honesty and loyalty.

Reality — whatever that may mean in the context of the movie — fades into nightmare as Mark wrestles with his psychic antagonists and a brutal crime is retraced, detail by detail. An absorbing and intelligent film, marked by some understated but masterly performances, The Stranger comes highly recommended.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 284 August 2023: 28