When Strangers Appear

When Strangers Appear
When Strangers Appear
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starring	Radha Mitchell; Barry Watson; Josh Lucas; Kevin Anderson;
Music by	Roger Mason
Release dates	21 July 2001 (Fantasia Festival); 22 January 2002 (United States);
Running time	96 minutes
Countries	Australia; New Zealand; United States;
Language	English

When Strangers Appear is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by and starring Radha Mitchell, Barry Watson, and Josh Lucas.

Introduction[]

While "When Strangers Showed Up" didn't open in North American theaters, it was clearly intended to be released on the big screen (widescreen was a complete leak). While it's nowhere near as good as its similarly themed cousin, "Breakdown," "When Strangers Appear" is an engaging little thriller.

Plot[]

When Beth (Mitchell) opens her remote roadside diner, she expects another slow day. But almost immediately, Jack (Watson), a handsome drifter bursts in, bleeding and on the run. Within moments, the three surfers Jack claims are chasing him appear and the stage is set for a deadly game of cat and mouse as Beth must decide who to trust.

Storyline[]

Radha Mitchell plays a lone employee in a remote restaurant (which, she explains, used to be a lively place before the highway next to the restaurant closed). After harboring an allegedly innocent victim, he found himself attacked. Barry Watson (voice actor in the TV series Seventh Heaven) plays the victim, a young man chased by a gang of brutal punks after a road violence incident. Mitchell must now determine if what Watson said is true - because if he is not, then she may be in more danger than she originally thought...

Reviews[]

When Stranger Appears seems like it's going to be kind of claustrophobic at first, wait until it's a dark thriller -- the first half-hour or so of the story takes place entirely in Mitchell's dining room. But after a while—and enough doubts in Mitchell's mind—perhaps Watson wasn't as innocent as he claimed, and the tone of the movie shifted and became more of a cat-and-mouse chase. On the one hand, Watson appears to have been injured in the road rage incident, at times cowering and attacking in self-defense at those trying to control him; but on the other hand, there are three so-called surfers, who may be chasing him, also Probably not, led by a charismatic leader, Mitchell found herself drawn. As a woman accustomed to doing things her own way, Mitchell is surprisingly efficient. To those who watched "Pitch Black," it should come as no surprise that she proved to be a formidable opponent against men twice her size. It's Dark is a sci-fi/action movie where she beats the best of the best. Here, she is initially someone who doesn't want to be involved, and she is happily living her day-to-day life. But circumstances demanded that she either help others or fight—unsurprisingly, she ended up with both.

The structure of When Strangers Appears is a little jarring at first, but it's easy to get used to. Storylines created by writer/director Scott Reynolds are often not completely linear. He would fade out of a scene, putting us right in a completely different scene, and we won't find out what happened during that time until later. I guess that gives the story a sense of mystery and suspense, but in reality, a lot of other similar films manage to create that vibe without leaving out a lot of the storyline.

When Stranger Appears wasn't well marketed, to say the least - the trailer made it into another Scream clone - which is a real shame because this little thriller Is an excellent movie and deserves more people to see! New Zealand-born director Scott Reynolds had a good psychological thriller Ugly Woman before, but this one really raised the bar. The beauty of "When Strangers Appears" is that for most of the film, the audience never really knows what's going on, and that's exactly what a suspense thriller should be! We followed Beth to work. It seems like an ordinary (boring) day until a strange bum walks in. After giving him breakfast, he disappeared when three surfers appeared. He claimed surfers were stalking him and that was why he was stabbed. However, the three surfers have a very different story, as the stranger appears to be a dangerous psychopath. After events take a shocking turn, Beth finds herself in an extremely dangerous situation.

The film's success is due to the way Scott Reynolds creates atmosphere and tension. The novel's central character, Beth, resonates easily; all the supporting characters are mysterious enough to be intriguing. The film ends with a series of wonderfully tense scenes that keep the audience on their toes. The bathroom scene stands out in this regard and is definitely nail-biting! The isolated backdrop compliments the story very well and helps build the intrigue in its own right. The plot is well constructed from start to finish and there is never a shortage of what happens. The fact that the film has only a handful of characters certainly works in its favor, as it means the film doesn't lose its focus, which ensures that it's always easily receptive to the plot. It's true that When Stranger Appears isn't very fulfilling overall, but as a thriller, it serves its purpose well from start to finish, right up to its explosive ending. I don't see any reason why people who took the time to watch this movie wouldn't like it.

External links[]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243554/ https://www.reelfilm.com/when.htm

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