I Was a Stranger

I have mixed feelings on this movie, but overall I'd still say it was pretty good. The biggest problem here I think is the approach to the story. It tells it's story in a more unconventional way, and unfortunately, the execution of said approach is lacking a bit. It starts with one perspective and switches to another and switching to different moments in the timeline in the process. The problem is that with this kinda of approach, unless executed properly, you can risk losing momentum in your story, emotionally as well. Unfortunately that is the case here. I think the first two chapters actually do a decent job, it's at the end of the second where I think the film loses it's momentum. Part of it too is it often cuts at the wrong time right before the story from that perspective hits it's own climax and when it returns to those moments, they feel dampened and don't have the impact you'd want. It doesn't let it's big moments happen. It cuts to the next chapter before and then it often shows just the aftermath rather than actually showing you what happened. Death sometimes is treated like an afterthought in this film. I get what it was trying to do. It was trying to highlight different strangers and the effects they had in each other's lives. And it isn't bad. The films characters are interesting, even if underdeveloped. The performances are all actually pretty solid. And it is a good story, even if its flow is a bit out of sorts. I'll also say the ending is incredibly abrupt and doesn't really feel like a very effective ending. The script should have abandoned the 8 year in the future timeline as it really didn't offer anything. It probably could have if the rest of the story was told more effectively, but would have liked to see all the characters finish the journey. Overall, it's not bad. It's a decent watch, just very flawed in it's approach. 7/10