The Strays is about a posh suburban English woman whose comfortable life starts to unravel when people from her past show up. She’s a light-skinned black woman married to a white man, they have two children… the newcomers are darker skinned and quite concerning to her.

This Netflix original is thematically confused and confusing… both misdirected and directionless and not a little bit peculiar. It’s either about a person who abandons her responsibilities or about the difference in class between her and them… or their difference in skin tone… or both… or all three. I’m not sure if this thriller is trying to say something or if it just nicks the theme for its plot.

It’s hard to really like anyone which is fine for some movies but clearly its third act is trying to make us care about the safety of these people. But the aggrieved party – who should be the ones we side with – are bugfuck crazy (cartoonishly so). The person who aggrieved them should be the bad guy… but she’s so overwhelmed and stressed that maybe the film is asking us to side with her…

I think I love the very very end of this film… it’s abrupt and probably won’t satisfy many people, but I kind of loved it. It’s very in-character and, given the circumstances, it makes sense and leaves behind a telling final image. Four people who are on opposite sides suddenly united in confusion. I dig that… not sure it satisfies the plot or themes though.

This movie is a thematic and a bit of a plot and a lot of a character mess. I wish it could have been what it was about without trying to turn into a thriller with good guys and bad guys. It seems to go for a simplistic final act where nuance was suggested. I’m highly mixed on it.

Score: 71