Review of Stranger by the Lake (2013) by Manny C — 15 May 2014

Gay men cruise one another at a lovely lake in the summer. The makings of gay porn? Not here. Even though there are bjs and bodily fluids involved, Stranger By The Lake is a wicked thriller with dark twists worthy of Hitchcock, including the overt gay themes, since homoeroticism was quite prevalent in Hicth's own films, notably Strangers on a Train and North By Northwest.

And even though men are involved, it's still a film (in French FYI) that speaks to universal experience, imbued with dazzling humor and palpable intimations of murder. Writer-director Alain Guiraudie has his camera sharply focused on the nude mend idly sunbathing, including Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), who gladly strips for a casual swim.

When not in the water Franck is chatting up Henri (Patrick D'Assumcao), a chubby man fully clothed, but not his type. His attention is on Michel (Christopher Paou, sporting the greatest mustache this side of Freddie Mercury), a total stranger he follows into the woods.

Michel already has his own sexual exploits to tend to, but over the course of a few days he and Franck hook up to the point that things become obsessive. Then, from a far distance, Franck sees Michel drown and kill another man.

But even with this information, Franck's obsession never diminishes, even when an inspector (Jerome Chappatte) comes around looking for a killer. What happens next no review should reveal. Guiraudie keeps music and dialog at a minimum, instead of using them to makes his themes hit too hard.

It's a pure cinema fever dream. Guiraudie courts risk as daringly as his characters, searching for the meeting point of sex and murder. You can't look away. It's a keeper.