'The Strays': Ashley Madekwe steals the shows with her hypnotic performance in Netflix thriller
Spoilers ahead for 'The Strays'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix is known for surprising the audience with its groundbreaking original content, including some notable movies like 'Awake' and 'Bird Box'. An addition to that list comes with British social thriller 'The Strays' by writer and director Nathaniel Martello-White. 'The Strays' evokes some aspects of Jordan Peele's modern classic 'Get Out', and manages to address racial issues, privilege and the haunting of the past in a gripping thriller, with a shocking ending that leaves us with our mouth-gaped.
Netflix has classified 'The Strays' as a social issue drama and the movie possesses an ominous tone throughout. 'The Strays' sees performances from Ashley Madekwe as Neve, the lead of the movie, Bukky Bakray as Abigail, Jorden Myrie as Marvin, Samuel Small as Sebastian, Maria Almeida as Mary and Justin Salinger as Ian. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 37 minutes.
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A powerful performance from Ashley Madekwe
'The Strays' is mainly run by Ashley Madekwe, who keeps us engaged throughout the film with her surreal performance and her dominating screen presence. Madekwe plays the role of Neve, an identity she created for herself after escaping from her old life. Neve was originally Cheryl, who lives in a small apartment in London. She has two kids and is in debt and constantly faces racism. She feels like she doesn't deserve to live like this and runs away from her family by leaving her kids in her sister's house. Before leaving she leaves a note on her fridge saying she is going to a hairdresser. As several years pass by, we get to see Cheryl, transforming herself into Neve, living in the beautiful suburb of Castle Comb in a lavish home. She works as a deputy headmistress in a private school, where her kids study and her husband Ian (Justin Salinger) works in insurance. She excels at her job, drives a Range Rover, changes her accent, eats langoustine and wants to live a perfectly curated life every day.
A Perfect Life!
Neve is the only Black woman in the neighbourhood and she wants to maintain it that way. She hosts a gala for the less fortunate and does not approve of her kids expressing themselves. Neve opposes the hairstyle that her daughter Mary (Maria Almeida) tries and removes the Lil Wayne poster from her son's room. Though Neve says she is a proud Black Woman, her actions speak otherwise. When her abandoned children, Carl (Jorden Myrie) and Dione (Bukky Bakray) show up at her perfectly planned gala, she gives an enraged emotional outburst. However, her lowest moment is when she tries to pay off Dione and Carl by offering a check for 20,000 pounds. This leads to the tensest family reunion, which leads to the horrifying climax of Neve abandoning her family once again! This shows that Neve has not changed and would do anything to have a smooth life without her past haunting her. Ironically, she is making the same mistake, again.
Music plays a huge part in adding tension to the story. The movie is divided into chapters. The tonal shifts from Cheryl's dull apartment to Neve's glorified suburban house; the fact that Neve has to practice the phrase 'Wonderful morning, isn't it?' every day in front of the mirror, even after 2 decades, and the nervous tic of Neve to scratch her head increasingly as the tension rises are some of the highlights of the movie. The creeping insecurities of Neve show how she values her newly built life.
Though there might be a few minor bumps in the movie, 'The Strays' manages to leave a residue behind.
'The Strays' is streaming exclusively on Netflix.
