The Stranger coming to Netflix

Netflix has picked up Thomas M. Wright’s film The Stranger following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Produced by See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content and Blue Tongue Films, and starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, the film revolves around two strangers who strike up a conversation on a long journey. One, a suspect in an unsolved missing person’s case; the other, an undercover operative on his trail. Their uneasy friendship is at the core of this tightly wrought thriller, based on the true story of one of the largest investigations and undercover operations in Australia.

Writer/Director Thomas M. Wright said: “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. A film that demanded attention and investment. A film that an audience could lean into — and fall into.

“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.

“The ‘Stranger’ of the title could stand for the person responsible for this crime, the victim, those affected by their loss, or the central character in the film — whose name we never learn; or it could stand for the nameless individuals who, in the end, resolve the film.

“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. We couldn’t be more proud of this film and to be partnering with Netflix to release it to an international audience.”

The Stranger will have a theatrical release in Australia, and also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival, before launching on Netflix in October.

Writer/Director: Thomas M. Wright
Cast: Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton and BAFTA Award winner Sean Harris
Production Companies: See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content and Blue Tongue Films
Producers: Rachel Gardner; See-Saw Film’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman; Blue Tongue Films’ Joel Edgerton; and Anonymous Content’s Kim Hodgert and Kerry Kohansky-Roberts
Executive Producers: See-Saw Film’s Simon Gillis; Rocket Science’s Thorsten Schuhmacher; Lars Sylvest; Trinity Media Financing’s Morgan Emmery and Jean-Charles Levy
Joel Edgerton is represented by Anonymous Content, WME, Shanahan, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum. Sean Harris is represented by B-Side Management and Management 360

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