Stranger by the Lake, 2013

Stranger by the Lake is a French thriller written and directed by Alain Guiraudie, who won the Best Director award at Cannes in 2013. The film follows Franck who visits a nude beach and gay cruising spot regularly. There, he meets and falls in love with a mysterious man who has a dark side. Despite its minimalism and the quantity of gay sex in the film, Stranger by the Lake is one of the most critically acclaimed films in this marathon, appearing on several big, top ten lists of 2013. Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire describes the film this way:

“Like those hasty lakeside hookups, the narrative goes nowhere, with a faintly satisfying climax that quite literally fades into blackness. Guiraudie uses the broad narrative canvas of a (maybe) homosexual killer run amuck to paint a vividly detailed, if far-out portrait of modern gay life where loneliness is the only real monster. The screenplay is also subtly political, especially in a key scene where the intrusive investigator asks Franck why the men would keep on cruising if one of their own had been killed. Franck’s pointed response? ‘We can’t stop living.’”

Stranger by the Lake is for horror viewers who don’t mind minimalism in many aspects of a film: plot, dialogue, sets, etc. This film is really built for those who enjoy dramatic elements and a subtle mystery, so I don’t recommend it to everyone. However, for those interested in catching up on essential modern queer films, Stranger by the Lake is obligatory viewing.