Quadruplex The good news first: If you are into men - Pierre Deladonchamps and Christophe Paou are quite sexy and bare it all - full frontal nudity throughout the flick.Unfortunately, two beefy guys are a lame excuse for the lack of a decent story line. Let's see: We have Franck, who obviously carries his brain in his dick. So he does what any homosexual would do after he witnesses the guy he has the hots for killing his lover: He digs him up and screws with him. Makes sense, doesn't it?We have the killer, Michel, who not only kills his boyfriend but in the course of the film also a Police agent. Now isn't he clever? The agent may have been stupid enough to return to the crime scene alone – but it's more than likely that he has a list of suspects in his office so when he gets killed, his colleagues will start to check whom he interviewed last.Than we have Franck's platonic relationship with Henri – he really seems to care about him. But this subplot leaves the impression that the writer just wanted to show that the character Franck is not entirely driven by his penis – and fill up time. Because in the end Franck's relation with Henri does not stop him from bonking a murderer. What sense does it make to show Franck's compassionate side if it's in the end still his wiener that rules?As so often with french films, there's no real end. We don't learn whether Michel get's caught, and if not, whether Franck finally wises up and terminates his dangerous liaison with Henri.Not very much for 100 minutes – which, by the way, appear much longer while sitting through this bore.And as for the full frontal nudity: If that's what you lust for, rent a porn.

David Barrett When a film is billed as a "tense thriller" there are only two things I am looking for in my viewing experience: for the film to be tense and for the film to be a thriller. Good lord this film tried my patience. In the 100 minute running time, we are treated to slowly watching the protagonist (Franck) drive into the lakeside parking area and park his car a dozen different times. Apparently, this is to cue the audience that time has past. Franck makes no decisions that make any sense. His friendship with Henri goes nowhere. His relationship with Michel goes nowhere. There is no story arc (important, to not only good storytelling, but if you want to build tension.) There is no character development. There are no redeeming qualities. At all. (To the film's credit, however, Pierre Deladonchamps (Franck) does his utmost to keep this film afloat.) No time during this chore of a film was I tense, nor was I ever thrilled. What I was, in spades, was bored.Gay cinema needs to start getting better than this.

edo deweert there is something very unsettling about this film and it is there almost from the beginning and never leaves. it is as if you are constantly expecting something dark to happen. whereas in other mysterious films music scores are used to alert the viewer with foreboding music, this film has absolutely no music. the use of this technique is stunningly genius. the sparsity of the characters adds to the eeriness. there is adequate portrayal of a variety of personalities although it contains some graphic sex scenes, this film is not about sex, but more about humanity and the darker motives behind the quest for sexual excitement

jadepietro This film is not recommended. Love may be blind and make us do foolish things. Such is the underlying theme of Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake (L'Inconnu du lac). The film's main character is Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), a lonely gay man cruising a nude beach for sexual coupling. It is there he befriends Henri (Christophe Paou), another lonely soul who has just broken up with his wife, and Michel (Patrick d'Assumçao), a hunky object of desire who happens to also be a killer. One relationship becomes platonic, the other quite physical. In fact, before Franck begins a on-going relationship with this deranged person, he actually witnesses Michel's homicidal act and remains totally smitten by his rugged good looks and unconscionably silent about the murder, keeping that small secret to himself.  Granted, some people may have no moral conscience, but while Franck may fall into this category, his unhealthy risks were more plot driven than realistic reactions to the drama at hand. The whole scenario seemed absurd to me. While there are some well-done scenes of suspense and tension, the behavior of all the characters seems totally contrived. The director seems overtly preoccupied with the homosexual theme, embellishing more care and deliberation on the numerous sexually graphic gay scenes and full (very full) frontal nudity rather than the mystery itself. This is a gay porn film masquerading as a murder mystery. The two genres never quite mesh. Were more time spent on the mystery plot and the psychological urges of sex and obsession faced by the film's underdeveloped characters, the film could have been more involving and compelling. Added to that, the purposely ambiguous ending only makes matters worse. This film never ventured further than the Los Angeles and New York area to help qualify it for Academy Award consideration for the Best Foreign Film entry from France. (It is now available on Netflix for your viewing displeasure.) In Europe, Stranger by the Lake has already won numerous awards including Best Director at this past year's Cannes Film Festival. All of the positive critical acclaim is the strangest aspect about Stranger by the Lake, an ultimately unsatisfying erotic thriller with some hot gay sex thrown in for good measure. GRADE: C-