The Stranger (15)
Directed by Francois Ozon
★★★★☆

WHEN the Nobel committee awarded the 1957 prize to Albert Camus it was, it said, for: “Important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times.” The Stranger was among that body of work.

The English translation gives the title as The Ousider — perhaps a more accurate description of who the lead protagonist is: a lower middle class, diligent office worker, who shoots dead a man he does not know on a remote beach outside Algiers in a senseless act of violence.

Meursault, whom Camus never gave a first name to, is ably rendered by Benjamin Voisin and represents the writer’s exploration of his own philosophy of Absurdism, where life lacks inherent meaning and where looking for one is pointless.

Indeed, Meursault’s verbal communications are devoid of any emotional range or tonality. His Kafkaesque trial, at which he is sentenced to death, encapsulates much of the advocated dislocation and emptiness.

Meursault’s demeanour throughout the narrative is narcissistic and not one that engenders any sympathy and, as a philosophical exercise alone, it is at odds with the present “time of multitudes” and Camus’s own participation in the French resistance during WWII. Meursault’s hollowness touches on banality and, despite the seductive presentation, emptiness is what it serves.

But Manuel Dacosse’s intelligently observational cinematography is mesmerising and salvages the slightly antiquated and contrived narrative.

In a spellbinding vignette, as if filmed by Ingmar Bergman, Meursault dreams of his execution and meets his mother and for the one time in the whole film smiles, to this reviewer’s relief.

Ozon’s choice to direct The Stranger was aided by the fact that his maternal grandfather was a magistrate in Algeria and his mother lived there for a period before returning to France following a National Liberation Front (FLN) initiation of an armed liberation push.

Over the rolling credits The Cure deliver their controversial song Killing An Arab inspired by the novella “I can turn and walk away, or I can fire the gun / Staring at the sky, staring at the sun / Whichever I choose, it amounts to the same / Absolutely nothing.”

Disquieting.
MB
In cinemas April 10

Undertone (15)
Directed by Ian Tuason
★★★☆☆

 

THE host of a paranormal podcast is sent anonymous audio files containing creepy hidden messages and a possible demonic presence in this dark and disturbing supernatural horror and directorial debut feature by Ian Tuason. 

Written by Tuason this is a masterclass in the use of sound design which turns this understated slow burning psychological drama into a spine-chilling auditory hell. 

Shot in Tuason’s childhood home it centres on Evy (Nina Kiri) as she records her weekly podcast Undertone with her co-host Justin (Adam DiMarco), who is in London in the wee hours, while taking care of her dying mother who is comatose in bed. 

This is a surprisingly unnerving and eerie horror in which the tension is raised through the bold use of sound and those pesky haunting audio recordings plus a vivid imagination. This isn’t for the faint hearted. 
MD
In cinemas April 10

Outcome (18)
Directed by Jonah Hill
★★★☆☆

 

KEANU REEVES plays Reef Hawk, a much-loved Hollywood megastar, whose career is about to be destroyed by the threat of a mysterious video tape going public in this twisted comedy about egos, narcissism, image and damage control. 

It is co-written and directed by Jonah Hill, who also stars as Hawk’s crisis lawyer Ira, who convinces his him to go and apologise to everyone he has insulted or made enemies with over the years. The aim is to appease his blackmailer and stop them from releasing the film footage. But the apology is just a means to an end. Hawk has just returned from a five-year hiatus during which his two best friends (Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer) and Ira have helped him hide his secret addiction from the public. 

The film pokes fun at the shallow yet cutthroat showbiz world in which obnoxious characters will go to whatever lengths to protect their A list client’s perfectly crafted image. 

It is funny, yet disturbing, and features a sublime turn by Reeves. 
MD
Available on Apple TV April 10