Feel as if you’ve already streamed everything Netflix has to offer? Think again: the streaming platform has vowed to keep us supplied with new movies throughout the entirety of 2023. And one of those films is the streaming platform’s new psychological thriller, The Strays – a movie so shrouded in mystery that we can’t help but obsess over it a little.

Here’s what you need to know about the unsettling new film.

What’s the plot of The Strays?

Once again, we hasten to remind you that The Strays might be one of Netflix’s biggest upcoming titles, but the streaming platform is keeping a lot back about the bold and provocative film.

So, what do we know about it? 

Well, we know that the debut feature of filmmaker Nathaniel Martello-White is ostensibly about picture-perfect Neve, who is the toast of her upper-middle-class suburban community – until, that is, she spies a couple of mysterious figures lurking around town and her pristine veneer begins to crack.

We know, too, that it deals with themes of code switching and identity. And we also know that Martello-White describes it as an exploration of “the British Dream – the pursuit of it, who it’s for, and who it isn’t…”

Watch the trailer for The Strays below:

Curiouser and curiouser.

Who stars in The Strays?

Ashley Madekwe leads the cast of The Strays, following her critically acclaimed performance in County Lines.

Bukky Bakray, meanwhile, plates a pivotal role in the film, as does Jorden Myrie, who is making his feature debut after having starred in ITV drama Stephen.

What are people saying about The Strays?

There has been a quiet buzz of anticipation surrounding this project for a while, especially after Martello-White spoke about the project during a conversation with Dr Midge Gillies at a literary event for the University of Cambridge last year.

“I’m always interested in those movies where you’re in quaint suburban towns – usually American movies – and it’s too perfect,” he said at the time, adding that he views this as a genre all of its own. 

“You know something’s about to go down.”

And, when asked about the inspiration for his feature debut, he went on to explain that the idea came after he “overheard something quite shocking within my family”. 

Adding that filmmaker Michael Haneke – who is famed for his unsettling approach to social issues and themes of estrangement – was a big influence on the project, too, Martello-White finished by revealing that one of The Strays’ overriding themes is that of gentrification.

“I didn’t want to be all, ‘Woe is me, these areas are no longer what they were’, but there’s something weird about going somewhere you’ve been loads and it’s suddenly very different. The buildings are changing, the communities are changing, and so I instinctively went into that genre space.”

We’re more intrigued than ever!

When and where can we watch The Strays?

The Strays will be available to stream via Netflix on Tuesday 22 February 2023.

Images: Netflix