Stranger by the Lake

2013 1h 40m FR

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 479

DramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Franck spends his summer days hopelessly searching for companionship at a popular cruising spot on the shores of a lake in rural France. One day, he meets Michel, an attractive yet darkly mysterious man and falls blindly in love.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Pierre Deladonchamps
Franck
Christophe Paou
Michel
Patrick d'Assumçao
Henri
Jérôme Chappatte
Inspector Damroder
Mathieu Vervisch
Éric
Gilbert Traïna
Tuesday Night Man
Emmanuel Daumas
Philippe
Sébastien Badachaoui
Eric's Boyfriend

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alain Guiraudie
Writers: Alain Guiraudie
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 86% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alain Guiraudie, shot by Claire Mathon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jean-Christophe Hym shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Pierre Deladonchamps and Christophe Paou and Patrick d'Assumçao carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2852458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alain Guiraudie directs. Claire Mathon behind the camera. Jean-Christophe Hym cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 86% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 13 years ago.
4Directed by Alain Guiraudie, shot by Claire Mathon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Jean-Christophe Hym shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Pierre Deladonchamps and Christophe Paou and Patrick d'Assumçao carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt2852458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 21 themes, including "lake", "drowning", "detective", "cruising".
9Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Claire Mathon
Editing: Jean-Christophe Hym
Costume design: Roy Genty
Makeup / hair: Pierre Olivier Persin
Sound: Philippe Grivel
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,400,000
Box office: $1,200,000
Return: 86% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Awards

Queer Palm

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Alain Guiraudie

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb152146182018-05-14
★ 7/10
A skillful Hitchcockian thriller weakened by a slack tempo--which does, to approach from another perspective, give one ample opportunity to admire the gorgeous cinematography and sound--and some unnecessarily/distractingly explicit sex. An ending would have been nice.
CinemaSerf2023-05-21
★ 6/10
A rather well shot, but pedestrian affair about good-looking young man "Franck" who frequents a gay cruising area on a lake shore and falls for a stranger. Around the same time, an ex-lover of the stranger is found drowned. What makes this film interesting is that both we, and him, know what happened and yet he decidedly refuses to co-operate with the police and puts himself and others at considerable risk. Is it infatuation or indifference or both? This is an oddly arid piece of cinema. At best it shows this cruising community as indifferent to the crime; and worst to a callousness that is quite shudderingly numb and unbelievably inhuman.