I Was a Stranger (2024)

Brandt Andersen doesn’t always trust you to feel things on your own, and a few moments in I Was a Stranger push on your emotions harder than they need to. That’s the flaw, and it’s a small one. The structure is the smart part. One long, uncertain night is split into five chapters, each following one person (a doctor, a soldier, a smuggler, a poet and a captain), and the stories cross so that a moment you’ve already watched lands differently the second time around. The film grew out of Andersen’s short, Refugee, and it never turns anyone into a symbol. Every person stays specific and human. Omar Sy, Yasmine Al Massri and Yahya Mahayni anchor a cast that never feels like a lecture, and the tense set pieces are genuinely gripping. It holds a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A-minus CinemaScore, all in 103 minutes. A 7.2 because it’s compassionate and tightly built, even when it leans too hard. $877 says the five chapters keep replaying in your head on the drive home in a new order.

What works: The five-chapter structure, with stories that cross and reframe each other, builds real tension, and the cast keeps every person specific and human.

What doesn’t: The script sometimes underlines its emotions too heavily, nudging you toward tears when the moment would have landed on its own.

Who it’s for: Anyone who likes tightly built ensemble dramas told from several points of view, and viewers looking for a serious, compassionate film to talk about afterward.