The Stranger – REVIEW
Image: Still from The Stranger with Joel Edgerton (R) and Sean Harris.
Based on true events, this crime drama is the chilling depiction of an undercover operation organised to ‘trick’ an alleged murderer into confessing to his crime.
A young child was abducted from an underpass and murdered. The criminal investigation led to a person of interest who had a long criminal history. He was undeniably the perpetrator but with lack of evidence it was impossible to legally charge him.
A plan was devised. An undercover agent would bond with him, introducing him into a ‘pretend’ criminal gang and receiving paid work for hoax unlawful activities.
The question was how do they get him to talk? And if he talked, would it be considered ‘unlawful inducement without evidence’?
This is the incredible account of how two men with secrets were brought together – the undercover investigator, Joel Edgerton delivering a darkly menacing performance and the alleged murderer, disturbingly portrayed by English actor Sean Harris.
The Stranger is based on the abduction and murder of Daniel Morcombe on The Sunshine Coast, Queensland in 2003. The 8 year missing persons investigation that followed was the longest ever recorded in that state. The characters in the film have been fictionalised but audiences who have read the true crime narrative of this horrendous crime should quickly recognise the connection.
The movie highlights the incredible amount of work that was required to organise such an undercover operation, the mental trauma these undercover agents experienced and notably the pressure to ensure that the confession was clearly articulated and lawful.
This is very intense and unsettling viewing and an ambitious film, possibly the first of its kind ever produced in Australia. Amateur criminologists should be enthralled and audiences in general may be left with a newfound respect for law enforcers.
★★★★
