[8]

At an idyllic lakeshore cruising spot for gay men, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) hopes to find a romantic partner. After searching for days at the clothing-optional oasis, he befriends a frumpy loner named Henri (Patrick d’Assumçao). The two strike up a platonic relationship and engage in deeper conversations than what’s normally had at a hook-up. But then a rugged-looking swimmer named Michel (Christophe Paou) catches Franck’s eye. Franck pursues Michel and ends up spying on him with another man in the lake. Thinking no one else is watching, Michel drowns the other man, leaving Franck with a dilemma — does he report this to the authorities, or does he keep it a secret so he can continue pursuing the object of his desire?

Stranger by the Lake is a dreamy meditation on male sexuality and relationships that begins with the promise of Eden and slowly descends into Hell. After the murder is committed, the film turns out to be a bit of a Hitchcockian thriller marketed as gay erotica. Some viewers may be distracted by the abundant nudity and graphic sex, but I would argue writer/director Alain Guiraudie quickly succeeds in numbing us to the exploitive qualities of those moments, leaving us with male characters truly and simply naked, not just physically, but emotionally and socially.

The plot is minimal and characters rarely explain themselves. But Guiraudie paces the film in a way that invites reflection and interpretation for anyone willing to place themselves in the characters’ skins. The characters are not sophisticated; they are archetypal, primal. The performances are solid, the tension winds nicely, and the atmosphere is palpable, but Stranger by the Lake intrigues me most as a concept piece — laying bare the simple but dangerous urges that drive men, while also opening the door to new possibilities of human connection.