I came to this film by scrolling through Netflix in search of something worthwhile, and although I had no reference or had not heard of it, I decided to give it a chance since I really had nothing else to see. When reading the synopsis I thought it would be a movie similar to “Us” or “Get Out”, for some reason I felt that vibe of the typical family in which one of them hides something or is pursued by a dark past to take revenge and destroy their family , and well, maybe my suspicions were correct.
"The Strays" from the year 2023, takes us to an English suburb where there don't seem to be many people of African descent, not exactly meaning that they are racist, but these things always draw our attention when the story is presented to us and even more so with what is to come. then. Neve, who is a biracial woman, lives there happily and successfully with her husband and children. In the opening minutes of the film I noticed strange behaviors on her part that made me understand that she had complexes about her physique, more specifically her hair.
It happens that when we try to escape from our past, no matter how much we try to forget or pretend that nothing we did at the time happened, the subconscious somehow plays against us to make us aware that we have a debt, so to speak. Thus, a gesture from a person, a place, a movie or any other element can relate to us or immediately remind us of what is in our memory that continually disturbs us. Well, something like what I mentioned was what was happening to Neve, but more than disturbing memories, it gradually became a reality that few of us would like to have in our lives.
I warn you that what I write next will be a spoiler, but I think it is important to give you a little more context. It turns out that, in the past, Neve left what was her house at that time due to typical family problems mostly related to her partner, but the highlight here is that she even left, abandoning her two children. Was it a big deal? Well, Everyone does what they do and has their motivations, but for a mother to abandon her children even in the most unfavorable conditions is surely wrong, and well, it had consequences.
Now, something more complex than abandoning your sons when they are still children is starting another family, hiding everything and pretending that none of the above happened. Neve got married, had two more children and in that sense she was apparently happy, but destiny has what it has for each of us and sometimes she is in charge of putting our feet on the ground. Then, our protagonist finds herself involved in certain mental conflicts related to her skin color, but that is not the worst, she begins to see a person who seems to be staring at her, as if wanting something from her or wanting to get her attention and this is because Of course it caused him a lot of fear.
Thus, the shadows of the past begin to play with Neve's mind, everything she has achieved so far is at risk and she evidently has every intention of fleeing, just as she did the first time, but this time her family and prestige is at risk.
The Strays | Official Trailer | Netflix
For the moment I won't tell you more, but believe me, the best is what follows, so if you are somewhat curious about this film you can watch it with peace of mind. Now, is this movie good? Is it bad? Well, I would say that it fulfills the function of entertaining, I certainly will not remember it as a top film and it is even likely that I will forget it over the years, but if you are looking for a suspense film and some drama that is moderately interesting then "The Strays" in Netflix could work for you. It was a pleasure to share. Greetings!