Thomas M Wright’s Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Stranger will premiere globally on Netflix in October, following a theatrical release in Australia.
Written and directed by Wright, the crime thriller stars Sean Harris and Joel Edgerton as Henry and Mark, two strangers that meet and strike up a friendship.
For Henry, worn down by a lifetime of physical labour, this is a dream come true. His new friend Mark becomes his saviour and ally. However, neither is who they appear to be, each carry secrets that threaten to ruin them – and in the background, one of the nation’s largest police operations is closing in.
Producers include Rachel Gardner alongside Emile Sherman and Iain Canning for See-Saw Films; Kerry Roberts and Kim Hodgert for Anonymous Content; and Edgerton via Blue Tongue Films. Rocket Science’s Thorsten Schumacher and Lars Sylvest are the executive producers with Trinity Media Financing’s Jean-Charles Levy and See-Saw’s Simon Gillis.
Wright said he couldn’t be more proud of his second feature, which earlier this year became the first Australian entry in Un Certain Regard since Rolf de Heer’s Charlie Country in 2014.
“With The Stranger, I wanted to make a psychological crime film that took audiences into a place that is hidden — a film that was authentic and realistic in its detail, but also immersive and cinematic,” he said.
“I centered the film on people who didn’t know the victim, but who devoted years of their lives – and their mental and physical health – to them; because though violence is the reason for this film, it is not its subject. Its subject is the connections between people. That means that, for me, this is a film defined by empathy.
“For an independent Australian film to premiere in the Official Selection in Cannes, and then be brought to the largest audience anywhere as a Netflix film, is unprecedented.”
The Stranger will have its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival today, where it is one of two local films in the Bright Horizons competition.
As of yet, there is no date for the subsequent theatrical release, nor has the length of the theatrical window been confirmed.