Stray (2019) is a worthy addition to that loose category of superpower films that started to emerge in the latter part of the twenty-teens, when the shiny optimism of superhero saves the world, adolescent wish-fulfilment, started to secede to a darker, grittier, worldview.
Much like Freaks (2018) and Brightburn (2019), Stray (2019) is an emergence of superpower story, but here told as a moody neo-noir.
When troubled homicide detective Murphy (Christine Woods) investigates a murder of a woman, burned to thousand year old charcoal, she forms an “unlikely friendship” with the victim’s daughter Nori (Karen Fukuhara). Together they untangle a complicated family history of trauma and betrayal.
The plot drips out nicely, complimented by a moody visual style reminiscent of early Fincher. Equally the story reveals are punchy, helped by its concise eighty-nine minute runtime. If only more films got the note to be this succinct.
