Stranger by the Lake

Midsummer in France. Sun, wind, the rustling of the trees, an idyllic, secluded turquoise-green lake with an adjoining forest. The handsome Franck comes to the popular cruising spot almost every day. The days, afternoons and evenings pass between swimming, conversations, cultivated boredom and sex. Summer, after all. Franck meets Henri, the eccentric oddball who always sits a little apart and doesn't fit in at all with the gay hustle and bustle of the beach, and he meets the attractive Michel: Franck is electrified from the very first second. But Michel is not only charismatic, he is also extremely dangerous - Franck knows this, but he wants to live out his passion at all costs. All of this culminates in a skillfully constructed and staged erotic thriller about love, lust and the dangers of a carefree lifestyle. Alain Guiraudie's film premiered at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard series, where it won the coveted 'Queer Palm'. The worldwide community of critics was similarly convinced: 'Der Standard' called the work “one of the most remarkable films of the year”. And in the famous French magazine 'Les Cahiers du cinéma', “The Stranger by the Lake” was even voted the best film of 2013, ahead of “Spring Breakers” and “Blue is a Warm Color”!