Netflix Film ‘The Stranger’ Premieres on Netflix Globally in October

The film revolves around the uneasy friendship that develops between two strangers who strike up a conversation on a long journey. (Netflix Photo)

Following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Thomas M. Wright’s film The Stranger will premiere globally¹ on Netflix in October. 

Produced by See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content and Blue Tongue Films, and starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, the film revolves around two strangers who strike up a conversation on a long journey. One, a suspect in an unsolved missing person’s case; the other, an undercover operative on his trail. Their uneasy friendship is at the core of this tightly wrought thriller, based on the true story of one of the largest investigations and undercover operations in Australia.

Writer/Director Thomas M. Wright said: “With The Stranger, I wanted to make a psychological crime film that took audiences into a place that was hidden — a film that was authentic and realistic in its detail, but also immersive and cinematic. A film that demanded attention and investment. A film that an audience could lean into — and fall into.

“I centered the film on people who didn’t know the victim, but who devoted years of their lives – and their mental and physical health – to them; because though violence is the reason for this film, it is not its subject. Its subject is the connections between people. That means that, for me, this is a film defined by empathy.

“The ‘Stranger’ of the title could stand for the person responsible for this crime, the victim, those affected by their loss, or the central character in the film — whose name we never learn; or it could stand for the nameless individuals who, in the end, resolve the film.

“For an independent Australian film to premiere in the Official Selection in Cannes, and then be brought to the largest audience anywhere as a Netflix film, is unprecedented. We couldn’t be more proud of this film and to be partnering with Netflix to release it to an international audience.”

The Stranger will have a theatrical release in Australia, before launching on Netflix worldwide in October. The film will also premiere in Australia at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 5.

Film Credits

• Writer/Director: Thomas M. Wright
• Cast: Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton and BAFTA Award winner Sean Harris
• Production Companies: See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content and Blue Tongue Films
• Producers: Rachel Gardner; See-Saw Film’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman;  Blue Tongue Films’ Joel Edgerton; and Anonymous Content’s Kim Hodgert and Kerry Kohansky-Roberts
• Executive Producers: See-Saw Film’s Simon Gillis; Rocket Science’s Thorsten Schuhmacher; Lars Sylvest; Trinity Media Financing’s Morgan Emmery and Jean-Charles Levy

About See-Saw Films

See-Saw Films is an Academy Award®, Emmy and BAFTA-winning film and television production house, founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman. The innovative production company is made up of an industry-leading team across offices in London and Sydney.

Over the last year, See-Saw has seen success of its productions across film and television, from Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, which was nominated for 12 Academy Awards® and seven BAFTAs and went on to win Best Director for both and a BAFTA for Best Film; to the releases of season one of Slow Horses for AppleTV+, and season one of Heartstopper for Netflix, both of which have been renewed for two further seasons.

This year also saw the release of Operation Mincemeat directed by John Madden, starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald; mini series The Essex Serpent adapted from Sarah Perry’s acclaimed novel by Anna Symon and directed by Clio Barnard, starring Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes; season two of State Of The Union, written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson, who both picked up Emmy nominations for their performances in the show.

Alongside further seasons of Slow Horses and Heartstopper, upcoming film projects include The Stranger, written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris; The Son, directed by Florian Zeller and written by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins; and Foe written by Iain Reid and Garth Davis, directed by Garth Davis and starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre.

See-Saw produced the six-time Academy Award®-nominated and two-time BAFTA-winning Lion, starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and in 2011 won the Academy Award® for Best Motion Picture for The King’s Speech which swept up an additional three awards from 12 nominations, as well as picking up seven BAFTAs from 14 nominations.

See-Saw’s first television series was the multi-award-winning first season of Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake. Campion returned with Top Of The Lake: China Girl starring Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie, which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe. State of the Union, written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and won three Emmy Awards. Other recent television projects include The End for Foxtel and Sky Atlantic, written by Samantha Strauss, directed by Jessica M Thompson and Jonathan Brough, starring Harriet Walter and Frances O’Connor; The North Water for BBC Two, written and directed by Andrew Haigh, starring Colin Farrell, Jack O’Connell and Stephen Graham; Firebite for AMC+, written by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher, directed by Warwick Thornton, Brendan Fletcher and Tony Krawitz, starring Yael Stone, Rob Collins, Callan Mulvey, and Shantae Barnes-Cowan.

See-Saw has an in-house sales arm Cross City Films, which handles international sales of its titles in select territories.

See-Saw has two joint venture production companies: I Am That – with creator/director Garth Davis (Lion), and Picking Scabs – with writer/showrunner Samantha Strauss (The End).

See-Saw has also invested in Tom Winchester’s TV company, Pure Fiction.

About Anonymous Content

Anonymous Content is a visionary and disruptive media company that produces multi-platform premium content and boasts an exceptional client roster which includes many of the world’s most renowned and innovative directors, writers, actors, and comedians. The company’s award-winning Film & TV division boasts many commercially successful and critically acclaimed works. Current Anonymous Content films include the highly anticipated upcoming Swan Song (Apple TV+) as well as the recently released Worth (Netflix), Stillwater (Focus Features) and The Midnight Sky (Netflix). The company is also behind the three-time Academy Award-winning film The Revenant, Best Picture Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, and Academy Award-winning film for Best Original Screenplay, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. The company’s TV credits include True Detective (HBO), Mr. Robot (USA Network), Schitt’s Creek (POP), Homecoming (Amazon), 13 Reasons Why (Netflix), Dickinson (Apple TV+), Home Before Dark (Apple TV+), and Defending Jacob (Apple). In 2018, Anonymous Content created The Lab, a creative incubator designed to push the boundaries of how brands tell stories by engaging emerging filmmakers and diverse storytellers. Through its Commercial work, Anonymous Content is also the driving creative force behind countless leading global brands. For more information, visit www.anonymouscontent.com. 

_{¹ Excluding Italy, Benelux, Portugal, Greece, Israel and the Middle East.}