A One Mann’s Movies review of “Stranger Eyes” (2024) (From the 2024 London Film Festival).
Original title: Mò shì lù
So, over the 11 years now that I have been ‘properly’ reviewing films, I’ve seen some truly baffling offerings. “Under the Skin” is one that immediately comes to mind. But in all that time, I dont think I’ve seen a film like “Stranger Eyes” that I simply couldn’t interpret. As a baffling work of fiction, it is really something else.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Stranger Eyes” Plot Summary:
Junyang (Chien-Ho Wu) and Peiying (Anicca Panna) are the parents of a toddler, Little Bo. Bo has been abducted from a playground some three months earlier. Detective Zheng (Pete Teo) is on the case, but leads are not yet forthcoming. Then the couple start receiving DVDs through their letter box. They show surveillance of them, both before and after their daughter went missing.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (At the time of writing, this had not been reviewed by the BBFC. But I would expect it to be a 15 due to sexual content and language.)
Talent:
Starring: Chien-Ho Wu, Kang-sheng Lee, Anicca Panna, Vera Chen, Xenia Tan, Pete Teo, Maryanne Ng-Yew, Mila Troncoso.
Directed by: Siew Hua Yeo.
Written by: Siew Hua Yeo.
Running Time: 2h 5m.
“Stranger Eyes” Summary:
Positives:
- The first part of the film is engrossing and well-staged.
- We flit backwards in forwards in time and (in the second reel) take a completely different perspective which is fun.
Negatives:
- Things that happen in the last half of the film (particularly at a snow slope) seem to have NO connection to anything else in the film. It is utterly baffling and left me cross and frustrated.
Review of “Stranger Eyes”:
An engaging thriller opening.
There’s nothing wrong with the premise of the film.here is the mystery of the loss of a child and the weird arrival of the video footage. It is all about surveillance, both state-led (there are lots of shots of CCTV cameras around the city) and the personal content that the couple have been filming of themselves and their daughter. (It’s a neat touch that at the start of the film, Peiying (Anicca Panna) is wearing a “I’m watching you” T-shirt.)
We see the anguish of the mother and her grandmother, Shupeng (Vera Chen) as they are still handing out flyers in a now-deserted playground. The word has got out that there is a child-snatcher and the area is not safe. But there is little interest. “Even kindness” sighs the grandmother “has an expiry date.”
You get the first inkling of how this film is going to get weird when Junyang (Chien-Ho Wu) obsessively stalks another mother and her child in a buggy. He picks the child up when the mother is distracted.
The other end of the lens.
We then get to see the watcher of the watched (the Stranger Eyes of the title) Lao Wu (Kang-sheng Lee) who lives with his partially sighted grandma (Maryanne Ng-Yew). They live in the apartment across from the couple. This portion of the film is very reminiscent of Hitchcock’s “Rear Window“, one of my favourite films. We pry into the lives of utter strangers in their different apartments. The writer/director here cleverly plays with the timeline. You see Junyang and Peiying having sex on their sofa before it was turned into the “baby’s room”.
It’s clear that there is a lot of other stuff going on in this couple’s life. Peiying is some sort of TikTok DJ/dance influencer. It turns out that Lao Wu is, unknown to her, her number one fan. Things get even more dark as Leo Wu stalks Junyang to his job as a sweeper at the local ice rink. There he finds him engaged in distinctly non-marital acts with Ana (Mila Troncoso) AND her boyfriend in the near deserted locker room.
So far, so good.
As we progress through the second half of the film, I was thinking that this was a classy thriller, well shot and edited and with a catchy little music score (Thomas Foguenne). But then it took a random turn into The Twilight Zone for me.
We keep returning to a ski centre in the city. There, the focus (of apparently both Junyang and Lao Wu) seems to be on a young lady who works there. Now, call me a racist (“You’re a racist Dr Bob”), but I honestly couldn’t tell if this young lady was a new character or whether it was actually Peiying, but set at an earlier timeline. I actually assumed the latter. This is because one scene seemed to be a kerbside, noodle-eating first date between the girl and Junyang. I thought this was a flashback to the point at which the couple had first met.
However, now with the chance to look at IMDB, I think this WAS a new character – Ling Po (Xenia Tan). But I have NO IDEA how this was supposed to fit into the story of either Jungang or Lao Wu and why either would be stalking her! Indeed, there’s an off-camera monologue at one point (from Lao Wu I think) that suggests that he is perhaps her long estranged father and he has been watching her from afar. Like WHAT??
Utterly baffling.
Denouement
The fim ends with a resolution to the little girl’s abduction which I won’t spoil but is a sort of “wtf” moment of disappointment.
Summary Thoughts on “Stranger Eyes”
This film really did have its moments. And if somebody in authority could post a full synopsis of the film on IMDB so that I could read it and then re-watch the film to properly understand it, then that would be appreciated! I mean, I don’t consider myself a stupid person. But I have never been so lost by a movie. As such, I can’t really recommend a film that left me baffled at the end… a feeling I know was shared with other viewers in the press screening.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
At the time of writing, this film had not been added to the Justwatch database.
Trailer for “Stranger Eyes”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZEz0rPeYWY .
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