Joel Egerton and Sean Harris' latest film is a thriller on Netflix that delves into a complicated friendship between an undercover cop and a murder suspect. While such a premise has been toyed with before in the crime genre, The Stranger still offers a fresh spin and is bolstered further by its two leads both of whom have extensively appeared in crime films from before.
From movies that explore the morality of undercover cops to dramatizations of real-life cases of undercover infiltration, viewers of The Stranger would have a plenty of options to binge on.
Imperium (2016)
Stream On Redbox
One of Daniel Radcliffe's non-Harry Potter movies, Imperium finds Radcliffe playing a FBI rookie who pretends to be a neo-Nazi to not only infiltrate a gang of white supremacists but also uncover a larger terrorist plot.
In humanizing its criminals, Imperium follows the same approach as The Stranger. Sean Harris plays Henry Teague in the latter as a mild-mannered person who might also be a dreaded murder suspect. Similarly, in Imperium, the potential terrorists that Radcliffe's protagonist encounters act all warm and friendly only to harbor racist and hateful prejudices.
Arlington Road (1999)
Stream On Starz
Building upon the paranoia and frenzy caused by the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995, Arlington Road revolves around a professor who is intent on investigating radical cultural sub-groups. When his newly-moved neighbors seem to be harboring dark secrets of their own, he suspects them of hatching a homicidal conspiracy.
Throughout the movie, the viewers are uncertain whether these neighbors are actual terrorists or the lead character is just getting paranoid. For more context, Jeff Bridges' protagonist is also a widower who lost his wife to activities by an extremist group. The psychological pressure of the characters would keep audiences hooked just like how, in The Stranger, Harris's supposed antagonist is a suspect in the eyes of the cop. Whether he actually is a killer or not, that's what the narrative explores.
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Stream On Netflix
To take down the devil, one must befriend the devil. This is the core philosophy of the neo-noir Donnie Brasco that is based on the ridiculously true story of how an FBI agent went undercover to take down the Bonanno Crime Family of New York. Taking the alias of Donnie Brasco, the agent goes on to develop a strong bond with the family's top hitman Lefty Ruggiero.
The audiences know how this fairly predictable plot would conclude, but still, the unlikely friendship that blossoms between the two makes for some good drama. The central relationship is similarly comparable to what Joel Egerton and Sean Harris' characters go through in The Stranger.
21 Jump Street (2012)
Stream On Sling TV
One of the freshest movies based on TV shows, 21 Jump Street makes for quite a hilarious buddy cop comedy. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as two dim-witted cops who must go undercover as high-school students to take down a sophisticated drug ring. The only problem is that the two inefficient heroes get conflicted between doing their duty and reliving their high-school life.
While it is vastly different in plot and themes from The Stranger, 21 Jump Street still remains a strong entry in the undercover cop subgenre of procedural dramas. And straying away from the brooding existentialism of The Stranger, the 2012 comedy would make for a light-hearted segue.
The Stranger (1946)
Stream On Kanopy
A Holocaust mastermind has taken on a new life in a quaint American town, serving as a beloved professor. But things take a rough turn when a War Crimes Commission member shows up eager to take him down. The road to prove his guilt is, however, more difficult than expected as the former Nazi has his own tricks to fool the townsfolk.
Orson Welles' 1946 cult classic The Stranger, much like its 2022 namesake, proves how the most terrifying of criminals can hide in plain sight. Despite their crimes, they are able to disguise their dark personalities with a kind-hearted persona, making it all the more difficult for the authorities to track them down.
Black Mass (2015)
Stream On Tubi TV
Once friends growing up in the same neighborhood, FBI Agent John Connolly and Irish mobster Whitey Bulger strike a professional partnership with Bulger turning into an informant. However, as the gangster rises through the ranks of the underworld, Black Mass turns into an intense powerplay between the two sides of the law.
With the role of John Connolly, The Stranger actor Joel Egerton gets to take on a different kind of undercover cop. Even though Connolly isn't outright corrupt, his means of going beyond the law prove to be troublesome. As one of the best true crime movies, Black Mass offers another interesting take on the unpredictable interactions between cops and murderers, much like the main plot of The Stranger.
Training Day (2001)
Stream On HBO Max
Offering one of Denzel Washington's most memorable performances, Training Day deals with a day in the life of a corrupt narcotics officer and his naive rookie as they journey through the underbelly of crime and maligned legal authorities. By throwing in two polar opposites in the lead cast, the Antoine Fuqua film offers alternative perspectives of the men in uniform (especially when they aren't wearing the uniform and blending in the streets).
Apart from delving into different psychological aspects of crime, Training Day is similar to The Stranger in the sense that most of the narrative is dialogue-driven between two characters.
The Devil's Own (1997)
Stream On Netflix
When a good-natured New York cop lets a young Irish man stay in his home, little does he know that he is harboring an infamous IRA terrorist.
Bolstered by terrific performances by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, The Devil's Own plays around with the viewers' minds with its transient sense of moral reasoning. Graying the binaries between who is good and who is evil, The Devil's Own is reminiscent of The Stranger in ways more than one.
Infernal Affairs (2002)
Stream On Apple TV+
The Hong Kong action thriller that went on to inspire Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Infernal Affairs follows a fast-paced plot around an undercover cop who has successfully infiltrated a mob and a spy from the same mob who has secured himself within the police force. As the two moles cross each other's paths, chaos is bound to ensue.
The adrenaline-fueled plot is filled with constant twists and turns that are bound to keep audiences at the edge of their seat, making it one of the best gangster movies of the 2000s. While The Stranger might be relatively slow-burning, both movies have enough plot twists that it becomes difficult to pick sides.
The Gift (2015)
Stream On Netflix
Directed by and starring Joel Egerton, The Gift focuses on an ominous stranger who visits a couple with an unlikely gift. As the events progress, the couple realizes they knew this man back in their high-school days, a man bound to seek revenge for the trauma inflicted on him back in that time.
While Egerton's antiheroic lead character might come off as an odd villain, his tragic backstory would make one empathize for him even if his actions are not justifiable. The brain games that The Gift's nail-biting premise offers makes it a worthy follow-up watch after Egerton's The Stranger.