Stranger.by.the.lake.aka.l.inconnu.du.lac.2013....

Directed by Alain Guiraudie, Stranger by the Lake L'Inconnu du lac

Stranger by the Lake (L'inconnu du lac) - 2013

Stranger by the Lake is a haunting, erotic thriller that subverts the typical "killer in the woods" horror tropes. It is a psychological study of a man who falls in love with death disguised as desire. By refusing to provide a tidy resolution or a moral lesson, the film leaves the audience in the same position as its protagonist: unsettled, captivated, and lost in the dark. Stranger.by.the.Lake.AKA.L.inconnu.du.Lac.2013....

The Cruel Geography of a Cruising Ground

1. Desire and Death

The film draws heavily on the French concept of la petite mort (the little death), equating orgasm with the end of self. Guiraudie visualizes this literally; the lake is a place where men go to experience ecstasy, but that ecstasy is always shadowed by the potential for actual death. Directed by Alain Guiraudie, Stranger by the Lake