Mysterious events surround the travels of two brothers as they make their way across a remote American landscape. On the surface all seems normal, but what appears to be a simple vacation soon gives way to a dark and complex web of secrets. This is the feature film version of the 2011 short film going by the same name.
The Strange Ones, 2017.
Written and Directed by Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein.
Starring Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson, Tobias Campbell, Gene Jones, Owen Campbell, Marin Ireland, Will Blomker, and Olivia Wang.
Synopsis:
Mysterious events surround two travelers as they make their way across a remote American landscape. On the surface, all seems normal, but what appears to be a simple vacation soon gives way to a dark and complex web of secrets.
It’s not uncommon for upstart filmmakers to expand their portfolio from short films into full-length features by adapting and expanding upon one of their very own small stories, and that’s what Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein have chosen to do so here with their hazy and moody psychological thriller The Strange Ones. However, the decision to select this piece to rework into an entire film is a questionable one as even at the gaunt length of 82 minutes.
Less than decade ago, at the height of Hollywood’s infatuation with Young Adult fantasy franchises Alex Pettyfer found himself in the spotlight as the “next big thing.” He was cast in the Michael Bay produced “I Am Number Four” and in CBS Films’ “Beastly” opposite everyone’s favorite Disney star Vanessa Hudgens. Needless to say, neither movie launched a franchise. Steven Soderbergh ended up giving him a gift, however, with “Magic Mike,” a commercially friendly indie made for just $7 million that became a massive critical and box office hit earning $113 million in the U.S.
ICM Partners announced two additions to its Independent and International Film Department on Monday, with Kristen Konvitz hired as an agent for the division and Oliver Wheeler promoted to the same position. Both will report to department head Jessica Lacy. Kravitz joins ICM from Stay Gold Features, where she was Head of Production. She was involved with the Sundance hit “Patti Cake$,” which was bought by Fox Searchlight for $9.5 million, as well as A24’s “Under The Silver Lake” and SXSW award winner “The Strange Ones. She also worked as Director of Film for the crowdfunding site Indiegogo and also worked.
Paris– “The Strange Ones,” the mystery thriller starring Alex Pettyfer, Stella Meghie’s biting comedy drama “Jean of the Joneses’ and Loïc Paillard’s feature debut “Les etoiles restantes” won the top prizes at the sixth edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
Directed by Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff, “The Strange Ones” won the American Independent Jury Prize. The movie previously won the special jury award at South by Southwest.
The American Independent Jury’s special mention went to “Jean of the Joneses,” which opened at South by Southwest and played Toronto. “Jean of the Joneses,” a portrait of squabbling Jamaican-American family, also won the Audience Award for an American Feature Film as well as Variety’s Coup de Coeur Award.
Meanwhile, “Les etoiles restantes” won the Audience Award for a French Feature Film, the Student Jury Prize and Titrafilm’s “Coup de Cœur” Award.
Kogonada’s romantic comedy-drama “Columbus” about a Korean-born man who finds himself stuck in Indiana where his father is in a coma, won the Student Jury Prize for an American Feature.
Léonor Serraille’s “Jeune Femme,” the winner of this year’s Cannes’s Camera d’Or, scooped the French Independent Jury Prize.
Presided by American director Randal Kleiser and French writer Pierre Lemaitre, the jury included Lolita Chammah, Lola Créton, Vincent Dedienne, Jérémie Elkaïm, Camélia Jordana, Gustave Kervern and Karidja Touré.
Created by Sophie Dulac, a French producer, distributor and exhibitor, with the aim of showcasing the diversity of French and American films, the Champs Elysees Film Festival boasts two competitive sections for French and American films. This year’s competition lineup of U.S. pics were Mike Ott’s “California Dreams,” Theo Anthony’s “Rat Film,” Dash Shaw’s “My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea,” “The Strange Ones,” “Jean of the Joneses” and “Columbus.”
The French competition section, launched this year, included Alain Della Negra and Kaori Kinoshita’s “Bonheur Academie,” Berni Goldblat’s “Wallay,” Océanerosemarie and Cyprien Vial’s “Embrasse moi!,’ Benjamin Diouris’s Merrick, “Jeune Femme,” and “Les etoiles restantes.”
