Stranger By the Lake -- French "Gay Thriller"

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Stranger By the Lake -- French "Gay Thriller"

Posted: 1/22/14 at 8:52pm

Has anyone else seen this yet? I didn't realize it was getting any sort of American release, but I see it's popped up on Metacritic (with a very strong score) opening up in some American cities this weekend.

Apologies if there was a thread about this earlier...

I caught it in French from a DVD copy a couple of months back and *really* liked it, but I can see it dividing people (from earlier film fest showings the comments seemed mostly about the not entirely simulated sex, and questions about how it shows gay cruising,) so would love to have a discussion about it. It seems to be being marketed as a gay thriller - which I suppose is fair enough though I could see some people finding it boring by that description -- as horrifying (and hypnotic) as I found it.

The director Alain Guiradie previously did The King of Evasion (I think that's the English title) which I liked, though not as much, and got some silly gay press controversy, at least in Montreal, for being about a celibate middle aged gay man who falls into a bizarre relationship with a young woman.

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/stranger-by-the-lake is a link to the reviews.

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/22/14 at 8:59pm

Haven't seen it; it opens in NYC Friday. It currently scores 100 percent at Rotten Tomatoes!

Updated On: 1/22/14 at 08:59 PM

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/22/14 at 9:00pm

Critics raved about this when it played Cannes. I've been waiting anxiously to see it, hopefully the art movie theatre in my town will get it at some point; it's been a long time since it premiered.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/22/14 at 9:03pm

It played at fests in Montreal and Toronto, but not sure if anywhere else. However it is coming to our small Victoria film fest I just realized in 2 weeks, so maybe it will show up at many places. Like I said, it IS out on DVD for those curious (though I have no idea if subtitles are provided--they weren't on my copy but I would suspect some people online have made ones...)

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/22/14 at 10:14pm

It's playing in New York in February, I believe.

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 12:23am

Saw a preview for this last weekend in San Diego. So it's getting a release here. A good review in the Los Angeles Times as well. So it must be opening there this weekend.

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 1:13am

Entertainment Weekly gave it an okay score. I think a B, or something. It sounded interesting though. I think I'd like to go see it. I'd imagine it would play at like Lincoln Square, or something.

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 1:54am

Thanks for the reminder, Eric. Been looking forward to catching this one since reading about it over the summer.

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 9:28am

Saw it the other night. Well acted, nicely paced, very erotic and graphic, but not a "thriller" in the traditional sense. There are, however, one or two very suspenseful sequences.

#10

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 11:25am

I thought it was okay, but nothing to rave about. It's a basically gay spin on a classic theme. I get why the pacing is intentional, but it didn't make it any less tedious for me.

***SPOILERS***

I felt like this film was really just half-realized. If he needed the sex to be explicit, why was it so uneven and one-sided? To me, it was just a gay spin on Looking for Mr. Goodbar with a slightly easier ending.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#11

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 12:42pm

SPOILER (kinda)

I found it much more ambivalent and less judgmental than Goodbar, Matt, if I'm thinking of the reason you're comparing them.

#12

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 1:40pm

I wasn't thinking specifically about the judgmental treatment of the central character, but more in terms of a "cautionary tale" regarding "anonymous sex".

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#13

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 1:47pm

It's currently playing in Toronto:
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiffbelllightbox/2014/2330021841

Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)

#14

Stranger By the Lake -- French

Posted: 1/23/14 at 5:29pm

Matt, I could see that. I guess for me the movie was more ambivalent--I didn't see it as condoning or condemning casual sex at all. Whereas with Goodbar, I certainly see it as a condemnation of it.

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