Be Afraid.
The Strays follows Neve (Ashley Madekwe, Tell Me a Story), a woman who has built up the perfect life for herself despite past hardships, now married to Ian (Justin Salinger) and Deputy Headmistress at a prestigious school where her two children Sebastian (Samuel Small) and Mary (Maria Almedia) attend. Neve is in the middle of planning a charity gala to honour her new social standing when her life begins to unravel, coinciding with the arrival of two new people in town. Neve, who is keen to highlight her whiter side and shows to disdain to anything ‘black’ is disturbed when two black people show up in her home and work, both keen to ruin her life for her past mistakes. Abigail (Bukky Bakray) and Marvin (Jorden Myrie) who have their own history with Neve seem hellbent on destroying her life whatever the cost. But who are these two people really and why are they so keen on undermining Neve? And more importantly does she deserve it?
The Strays definitely had the creep factor down and the film was really able to mirror Neve’s constant feeling of unease through its use of music, editing and location. Going into the film I only had a vague idea of the storyline but it became very clear that something bad was coming. Neve’s perfect life soon began to crack and as Abigail and Marvin wormed their way into her community her true personality came out and she really began to show her true colours through her fear. The Strays might not be the best horror I’ve ever seen, and it certainly had its issues, but one thing the film really excelled at was its atmosphere and the growing feeling of dread through Neve’s eyes.
Speaking of Neve she was certainly an interesting character but I must admit it was hard to root for her in any way, shape or form. Because of her racist tendencies and denial of her or her children’s black roots I just could not find a single redeemable quality in this woman and therefore did struggle with finding any sympathy for her in the film’s second half. On the flip side the film’s ‘villains’ were hardly the most sympathetic characters either so I just spent most of this film unsure of who I was actually meant to be rooting for. Unlikeable characters can be interesting if done correctly but in this case it just felt like a whole pile of terrible situations and crooked motivations, there really were no winners here.
I think The Strays is an example of storytelling so wild that it almost turns funny and the ending especially had me laughing out loud (even though I probably wasn’t supposed to). The fact Neve just up and left yet another family was completely shocking and unexcepted, like she just full on left? My shock seems to have been mirrored online as well and all anyone can talk about is the film’s hilariously bizarre end, I think it’s all the film is ever going to be remembered for (in both a good and bad way). The final 30 minutes in fact was completely insane and having to sit through Abigail and Marvin terrorising Neve and her family was just crazy, it was like one big hot mess I couldn’t tun away from.
Overall The Strays was definitely an interesting film and completely not what I expected at all. The story had the creep factor down but it was hard to really root for anyone since Neve was such a damn unlikeable character. The ending then completely took me by surprise and the whole thing was so crazy it was funny, I still can’t get over the fact she just up and left her family behind again. A wild ride from start to finish, The Strays was definitely a weird one but I’d still recommend purely for the absurdity of the ending alone.
Ramblings of a Supposed Writer 