Few Movies Are as Haunting as Netflix’s Forgotten Serial Killer Thriller With 92% on Rotten Tomatoes

The Stranger snuck onto Netflix with minimal fanfare the same way it stalks its way into viewers’ minds, leaving lingering chills and a lasting impression well after the credits roll. This serial killer movie is based on a true story, where a person of interest (named Henry Teague in the film and played by Sean Harris) was suspected of abducting a child and the Australian police force launched a sting operation to coax out a confession. The true story is horrifying enough, but director Thomas M. Wright’s film is a masterclass in dread, allowing the creeping feeling to pervade each element of the narrative, atmosphere and characters. Joel Edgerton also joins the cast as undercover cop Mark, who works closely with Henry, delivering a haunting performance that adds to how a crime can impact anyone associated with it.

‘The Stranger’ Is Based on a True Story

Everything about The Stranger grips you in a cocoon of dread, even from the very beginning where the words “based on a true story” flash across a black screen. It is inspired by a real Australian sting operation that occurred during an 8-year manhunt for Brett Peter Cowan, who was investigated for abducting and murdering 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe (James Liston in the film). As Edgerton told The Sydney Morning Herald, the names of everyone had been changed to protect their identities, not even meeting with the real undercover cop “because [they] were investigating the truth, taking that truth and telling a fictionalized version of it, which is about protecting everyone involved.”

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Mark’s real counterpart did indeed befriend the suspect and drew him into a fake crime ring that the police set-up in hopes of recording a confession, which is legal and admissible in court in Australia. The film is based on a book that detailed the covert operation, The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer by crime reporter Kate Kyriacou, but much of the story is fictionalized. This allows The Stranger to convey the true dread that eclipsed every part of the investigation, made more effective by Wright’s strong direction. The film flashes between Mark and Henry working together and the background police work, constantly reminding us that Henry, who comes off as a regular albeit strange man, is actually far more sinister underneath.

Dread Creeps Into the Atmosphere of ‘The Stranger’

as Mark Frame and Henry Teague talking to each other in The Stranger (2022) — Joel Edgerton as Mark Frame and Sean Harris as Henry Teague talking to each other in The Stranger (2022)

We are constantly reminded of Mark’s goal and await the confession, creating an impending sense of doom to the friendship and the ordeal. When we first meet Henry, he is meeting a stranger on the bus who introduces him to Mark and offers him a job in this elusive crime enterprise. Harris masters the vacant stare of a haunted man and frequently mutters he “doesn’t do violence,” creating an eerie screen presence that unwillingly draws our eyes to him. As the film and the central “friendship” progress, Harris pairs his enigmatic air with convulsions of mania, sending waves of shock through us as he disrupts the quiet gloom of the film.

Dim lighting strains our eyes throughout the film, interrupted mainly by cold and harsh scenes of the police work, helmed by Jada Alberts as the lead detective. The darkness makes the events feel corrupt and underhanded, as if it is corroding the film from the inside, burdened by the weight of its material. Combined with the creeping score, each narrative beat leaves us deeply unsettled. Meanwhile, the white lights of the police scenes and Alberts’ somber narration act as a guiding truth and exposition that reminds us of our purpose, inducting us into the investigation too.

Edgerton Plays a Haunted Undercover Cop in ‘The Stranger’

The dread curdled up by these events leaves no one untouched, especially Mark, who has to deal with the cost of a secret identity and the impact Henry’s darkness has on him. Edgerton’s heavy performance portrays the burden of this traumatic kind of work, as he keeps his sentences short and his gaze is often adrift when not undercover. Even the disguise aspect is disturbing, as he sports the rugged beard and hunched demeanor that mirrors Henry, allowing the similarities to subliminally connect them. This is made even more disconcerting through the innocuous scenes of Mark with his son, reminding us of the inner turmoil he must feel — he is trying to befriend and identify with a suspected child killer.

Wright assiduously explores Mark’s inner conflicts with dream sequences that are woven seamlessly into the narrative. He is frequently woken up by the face of Henry pervading his dreams, with one distinct nightmare tapping into his paternal love, where Henry sits serenely at the base of his son’s bed. Mark’s fears, uncertainties and the undulating pressure placed on him are manifested in these doom-laden scenes, building the inescapable dread as the consequences of this sting operation claim Mark, Henry, police officers and us in its dark grip.