In recent years the thriller a tinte mystery has experienced a new season of popularity, especially on Netflix, which has carved out a central role for itself in the relaunch of the genre thanks to titles such as the films of the Knives Out or series like The Residence. Yet, in the vast catalog of the platform, there is a production that has criminally gone unnoticed and which today more than ever deserves to be rediscovered.
We’re talking about The Strangera series capable of offering a familiar but surprisingly effective variation of contemporary detective fiction. Rooted in realism and built around an inextricable web of secrets, it is one of those stories that features twists and revelations that are destined to stay in the viewer’s mind well beyond the closing credits. Released in 2020, in a period in which the pandemic induced streamers to pour an impressive number of films and series onto the platforms in the space of a few months, The Stranger it is unfair went unnoticed. An ungenerous fate, considering that it is a solid adaptation of the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben, an author that Netflix has often demonstrated its ability to valorise.
Moreover, critics have received the series in a decidedly positive way. To date The Stranger boasts a score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been praised for its intelligent writing, convincing performances and constant ability to surprise by engaging in a genre often prisoner of its own clichés. In fact, the series manages to stay ahead of expectations, making unpredictability its true strong point.
The concept behind the 8 episodes that make up the series is as simple as it is irresistible. A mysterious woman arrives in a quiet town and begins to revealing secrets he shouldn’t knowand then disappears without a trace. Blackmail, paranoia and revenge intertwine in an increasingly suffocating spiral, while the viewer struggles to understand who they can really trust. The privileged point of view is that of Adam Price, an ordinary man whose life is suddenly turned upside down when the Stranger reveals to him that his wife lied about being pregnant. Shortly after, the woman disappears into thin air.
From then on, the plot becomes progressively more complicated unsolved murder followed by a series of revelations that begin to emerge in a seemingly quiet neighborhood, revealing various unsuspected ties between its inhabitants. The real enigma, episode after episode, is not only what is happening, but how the Stranger could have come into possession of such intimate information, and above all why she decided to use it.
A particularly inspired cast contributes to making everything even more effective. Richard Armitage (to the trilogy of Lo Hobbit) leads the series with an intense and vulnerable interpretation, perfect in giving substance to Adam’s confusion. Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thunderbolts*), as the Stranger, often steals the show thanks to a magnetic and disturbing presencesupported by a solid group of supporting characters.
The Stranger it is proof that even less “mainstream” adaptations can be compelling and refined, if supported by a clear vision and a precise rhythm. In fact, it is a series designed to be devoured in one go, without this being to the detriment of narrative depth, with the binge-watching approach intended to enhance its tension. In short, The Stranger is a surprising thriller that plays with the secrets and trust of a community apparently without secrets, capable of surprising to the last. All elements that could undoubtedly capture the attention of Agatha Christie fans.
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Foto: Netflix
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