The Stranger in Us

"Anthony" (Raphael Barker) has one of those slightly irritating on/off relationships with his rather selfish and thoughtless boyfriend "Stephen" (Scott Cox) that leads the former to find himself walking the streets one night and meeting the young "Gavin" (Adam Perez). This latter young man oozes a streetwise confidence that "Anthony" finds compelling after a while and the two start to bond a little. It's not a romance as such, it's a rather peculiar form of inter-dependency and for a while director Scott Boswell manages to keep the personalities interesting enough. Unfortunately, though, we quickly find ourself in a rather well trammelled gay story that plays a bit to a San Francisco's rather poisonous stereotype that couldn't make a decision if the city was, once again, on fire! Perez adds a bit of charm to his character, and is easy enough on the eye - but that gloss peters out as we discover that - well you'd have to watch and see, before a rather disappointingly flat conclusion to an over long 1¾ hours of melodrama filmed in a fashion that I found initially quite creative, but ultimately pointless. I suppose it's asking us to try and take stock of just how well we actually know ourselves, but with too much verbiage. Sorry, one to avoid I'm afraid.

I had hoped this would be a nice movie. Instead we get timelines that jump all over the place, and a protagonist I couldn't care less about.

Nobody in this movie was worth caring about. Not his deranged abusive boyfriend, not the trick turning gigolo kid he befriends, or the roommate who's completely forgotten about 1/3 of the way through the movie.

Avoid this film, it's just too big a mess.

...seem to be giving this garbage a 10...which can only mean they were part of the cast themselves, because no one in their right mind would give this more than a 3 max. San Francisco is a really toxic and inhospitable place, but it is ANYTHING but gay-unfriendly, which made a lot of these scenes completely unbelievable. And every gay man who has ever lived in San Francisco has a story...and 9 out of 10 will be FAR more entertaining than this one. Yes, bad relationships happen...nothing particularly new being said here at all. Just a very sloppily edited, scripted, filmed and acted piece of amateur video. The whole date titles were unoriginal and confusing as well. Nothing good or entertaining here to recommend.

There are so many things in this movie that are unbelievable but that is besides the point! The relationship between Steven and Anthony is seriously disturbing however, I applaud the attempt to bring to light the fact that abuse in gay relationships exists. Even with this however, there are serious development flaws in these two characters and the acting leaves much to be desired. Anthony's Character is very timid and shy but some of his actions don't make sense considering he is painted from the beginning as being so introverted - like picking up random men. Steven's character is abusive but nothing about him is intimidating, threatening or even remotely scary - yes, he is a bitchy little queen but that doesn't make an audience believe that this guy could give his boyfriend a black eye or bash his head on a coffee table!

Gavin is the only saving grace in this film! This kid's character is believable and the actor plays the role well!

And the crazy time-line thing - only distracts the audience.

I am a HUGE movie fan and am watching new movies all the time. I like all kinds of movies. But I cannot remember a movie in recent years that left a bigger impact on me than "The Stranger in Us." I had the privilege of seeing it at a film festival in Colorado and was blown away. There is just something so real and gritty about it that I could not get it out of my head. I believe that no matter who you are, where you are from, or what your background is, everybody will find something about this movie that they can relate to. I feel like every single person out there can identify in some way with some aspect of this movie. The performances touched my heart, both from the movie's heroes and villains. The director seems to have a really fresh eye. I am truly hoping to see much more from this director and these actors in the future. Whether you seek out film festivals or search for it on DVD if/when it gets released, find a way to see this movie.