The international scope and grueling human cost of the global refugee crisis lends itself to contemporary epic filmmaking of a particularly sober stripe, as seen mostly recently in Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” and Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated “Io Capitano.” Shorn of their ripped-from-the-headlines urgency, such stories of humans crossing vast distances and facing hostile odds in pursuit of a better life are as old as time itself. A muscular, assured debut feature from U.S. producer-turned-director Brandt Andersen, “The Strangers’ Case” stresses the sprawling scale of the situation with a chaptered structure that pivots between multiple involved parties in the refugee’s journey, from warmongers to traffickers to rescuers to the displaced victims themselves.
That wide span, however, prevents a particularly penetrating look at any individual experience of the crisis. Brandt draws his characters in broad, flat strokes that serve the architecture of the narrative — and its cumulative, practically...
That wide span, however, prevents a particularly penetrating look at any individual experience of the crisis. Brandt draws his characters in broad, flat strokes that serve the architecture of the narrative — and its cumulative, practically...
- 2/25/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The line between art and activism is blurred — often to a fault — in The Strangers’ Case, a visceral migrant drama that plays less as a movie with a message than as a message with a movie.
Written and directed by Brandt Andersen, an executive producer (American Made, Everest), former NBA G League franchise owner and international activist, the film follows several characters whose lives are upended by the Syrian Civil War, switching points of view as it moves from the grim battlegrounds of Aleppo to the gates of Europe.
It can be an intense experience to sit through, and Andersen doesn’t hold back on the gruesome violence and nonstop tragedy many migrants suffered during the conflict — and continue to suffer to this day. But that doesn’t always make for great drama, nor for characters who go deep enough, resulting in a well-meaning film that feels half like a globetrotting Hollywood thriller,...
Written and directed by Brandt Andersen, an executive producer (American Made, Everest), former NBA G League franchise owner and international activist, the film follows several characters whose lives are upended by the Syrian Civil War, switching points of view as it moves from the grim battlegrounds of Aleppo to the gates of Europe.
It can be an intense experience to sit through, and Andersen doesn’t hold back on the gruesome violence and nonstop tragedy many migrants suffered during the conflict — and continue to suffer to this day. But that doesn’t always make for great drama, nor for characters who go deep enough, resulting in a well-meaning film that feels half like a globetrotting Hollywood thriller,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has boarded international sales on The Strangers’ Case, with WME Independent overseeing North American sales, ahead of its world premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala.
Yasmine Al Massri, Yahya Mahayni, Omar Sy, Ziad Bakri, Constantine Markoulakis and Jason Beghe star in the feature directorial debut of veteran US producer Brandt Andersen, whose credits include Everest, Lone Survivor and Broken City.
Tragedy strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo, starting a chain reaction of events involving five different families in four different countries. The drama interweaves personal stories to illuminate the bravery and heartbreak of the refugee experience.
Yasmine Al Massri, Yahya Mahayni, Omar Sy, Ziad Bakri, Constantine Markoulakis and Jason Beghe star in the feature directorial debut of veteran US producer Brandt Andersen, whose credits include Everest, Lone Survivor and Broken City.
Tragedy strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo, starting a chain reaction of events involving five different families in four different countries. The drama interweaves personal stories to illuminate the bravery and heartbreak of the refugee experience.
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
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