Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: TV and Film, Netflix
Emma Guinness
If you're a fan of horror films, then you'll know that it's one department where not all things are created equally.
Now, Netflix viewers who've been left quaking in their boots have urged other horror fans not to watch the streaming service's latest offering, The Strays, right before bed.
The film begins by introducing viewers to Neve (Ashley Madekwe), a well-off woman who, on the surface, appears to be living her dream life in suburban England.
Needless to say, it's not long before things begin to unravel and her personal paradise turns into a complete horror show.
Advert
Mainly, when her past shows up and creates a situation that spells disaster for anyone unfortunate enough to have been involved in the lies she told.
The film's official synopsis reads: "A light-skinned Black woman's meticulously crafted life of privilege starts to unravel when two strangers show up in her quaint suburban town."
As this synopsis suggests, race is an important part of the film, and its director, Nathaniel Martello-White, said he played with the concept of 'code switching'.
He said: "[This term is when] a member of an underrepresented group adjusts their language, syntax, grammatical structure, behaviour and appearance to fit into the dominant culture."
Advert
The Strays was released by Netflix on 22 February, but for some people, it's already the scariest film of the year.
Reacting to the horror, one viewer wrote: "That movie The Strays [is] terrifying."
A second warned: "If you're trying to sleep well tonight, don't watch The Strays right before bed."
"Just finished watching The Strays on Netflix and I think I'm scarred for life, because what the hell did I just watch?" questioned a third.
Advert
And a fourth wrote: "So...has anybody seen the movie The Strays on Netflix is f**king nuts n I cannot cope with how it just ends like THAT on Netflix??? I thought it was going to be some Passing/Get Out mash-up, but it's so much more twisted lmao.
"I dunno if I would say it was a *good* movie, but it was definitely entertaining."
But if you happened to enjoy getting scared out of your mind by the movie, then the good news it that it may well have a sequel.
Jorden Myrie, who plays co-lead Marvin in the film, said he and Madekwe have discussed the possibility.
"We would talk about it on set and start writing our own, what it could be, theorizing. We’d say it close to the mic so someone would hear it," Jorden said.
Advert
But while they've toyed with the idea of a sequel, the pair agreed that the film is strong enough to exist without one - and the Twitter reviews are certainly a testament to that.