The idea of separation is an uncomfortable reality for some modern families. It’s a painful, difficult process that often finds the youngest members taking the brunt of the impact. There is a right and a wrong way to manage this delicate process, but sometimes things can go terribly wrong. Director Martin Gooch’s impactfully titled The Stranger I Love presents a helpless mother with an impossibly hard revelation.
Loving single mom Nina (Theresa Godly) is excited to see her son Ezrah (Leon Ung) after a 3-week holiday with his father, Mark (Christian Greenway). She goes about her days cheerfully, but when the boy arrives back home, something is evidently wrong with him, and it’s up to Nina to figure out why that is.
The Stranger I Love’s handling of its troublesome subject matter deserves ample praise, posing tough questions and offering even tougher answers. Its choice of perspective is intriguing, refreshingly covering a topic that doesn’t often get sufficient screen time.
Characters, particularly Godly’s Nina, are forced to make decisions they desperately don’t want to, and that makes the conflict particularly absorbing. Godly’s performance perfectly reflects this, conveying both the highs and lows of Nina’s motherhood through only a few scenes. Gooch’s direction makes it all feel very natural, building excitement to the hour of Ezrah’s seemingly routine return.
That being said, the film does feel a little brief when it comes to unpacking the complex situation between Ezrah, Nina, and Mark. Text appears over a black screen to convey the science behind the entire ordeal, but a feature-length runtime would have served the story better. Apart from a lone FaceTime call, we don’t really see Nina and Ezrah’s relationship being deeply explored, nor is Mark’s perspective immediately clear. Despite these inconsistencies, Nina’s confrontation with her son about his issues perfectly builds up to a chilling cliffhanger. From the way that scene is shot (Damian Paul Daniel) to its pacing, it’s a brilliantly realized sequence that features all actors at their finest.
Outstanding performances and powerful thematic material elevate The Stranger I Love into a worthwhile experience.
