With the true-crime renaissance in full swing over on the small screen, it feels appropriate that a similar spike should be felt in the moviehouse. “The Stranger,” the sophomore feature from Aussie TV guy Thomas M. Wright that premiered yesterday in Un Certain Regard, is the latest film to try and scratch that particular itch — try, alas, being the watchword. Unraveling mystery, throat-snatching tension, tragedy and trauma in abundance; you’ll find little of that here, at least for the first hour, where the film veers between frail tangents and manifold branches that make the whole thing an annoying chore.

Continue reading ‘The Stranger’ Review: We’re Here For A True Crime, Not A Good Time [Cannes] at The Playlist.