The Stranger (2022) Review

The Stranger (2022) Review

Following the death of her husband, the grieving proprietor of a small hotel finds her life turned further upside down after the arrival of a mysterious guest who won’t leave.

Written and directed by Mike Clarke and Paul Gerrard, The Stranger is, I understand, their first feature, and there is certainly enough here to suggest a promising debut. Most notably, the filmmakers demonstrate a good eye for creating unease, with some interesting camera angles and an effective sense of atmosphere that works surprisingly well given the film’s low-budget credentials.

The story centres on Amanda and her seventeen-year-old daughter Karli, whose lives are disrupted when Kyle, a young stranger, effectively coerces his way into both their newly established bed and breakfast and their lives. His arrival coincides with the appearance of mysterious figures dressed in black, led by an older woman and identified in the credits simply as the ‘Hunters’.

There are shades of Hellraiser in the way the Hunters are presented, with something of the Cenobites about their appearance and presence. One particular sequence, in which Karli walks past a group of seemingly static Hunters, also brought to mind the demonic nurses from the original Silent Hill, particularly the unnerving way those figures remain motionless as a character attempts to navigate around them.

The central premise is a good one, and there is a solid horror story buried within The Stranger. Unfortunately, I felt it needed a little more meat on the bones. The Hunters in particular could have benefited from greater development. Learning more about who or what they are, and perhaps understanding their motivations, would have added considerably to the film’s sense of mystery and menace.

Instead, rather too much time is devoted to the melodrama surrounding Amanda and Karli, including Karli’s relationship beginning to fall apart because of the distance between them. Early on, there is also the familiar horror trope of a parent refusing to believe their own child when they insist that something is wrong, only to discover later that the child was right all along. Given how frequently this device has appeared in recent horror films, it felt frustratingly familiar here.

Then there is Kyle himself. His decision to stop at the bed and breakfast for more than a day is difficult to understand, particularly once the danger becomes apparent. Having effectively forced his way into Amanda and Karli’s lives, he consequently puts all three of them in jeopardy. Quite why he remains there for so long, rather than simply moving on, is never entirely convincing.

The performances are reasonably solid, with Damien Ashley making an effective impression as Kyle, while Jennifer K. Preston and Isabella Percival provide a decent mother-and-daughter dynamic as Amanda and Karli respectively. There is a good story at the heart of the film, but I couldn’t help feeling that more attention should have been given to developing its mythology and the threat posed by the Hunters, rather than spending so much time on Kyle’s deception and the interpersonal drama.

One other issue may prove to be something of a practical problem for the film: its title. The Stranger bears a strong resemblance to an existing movie franchise and given that the climax effectively develops into another home-invasion-style thriller, anyone attempting to search for this particular film online could potentially have difficulty finding it among the much better-known titles.

I understand that the film was originally titled Karli, and while that may not have been the most immediately commercial title, it arguably would have given the film a stronger identity.

Ultimately, The Stranger is an encouraging debut from Clarke and Gerrard. There are some genuinely unsettling moments, the filmmakers show promise behind the camera, and the Hunters provide some intriguing imagery. I just wish there had been more exploration of who and what these mysterious figures actually are, and less emphasis on the melodramatic elements surrounding Kyle, Amanda and Karli. There is a good horror film lurking within The Stranger; it simply needed a little more development to bring it fully to the surface.

The Stranger is on UK digital 14 September from Trinity Content Partners.