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

. Set entirely at a lakeside cruising spot in rural France, the film uses its limited geography to create a pressure-cooker atmosphere where social norms dissolve into primal instincts. The Geography of Desire The film’s brilliance lies in its repetition

While Stranger by the Lake works brilliantly as a tense thriller, its strength lies in its multiple layers of meaning. The film is widely read as a powerful allegory for the AIDS crisis. The central risk Franck takes—sexually pursuing Michel despite the clear and present danger he represents—mirrors the fear and risk that defined gay sexuality in the post-AIDS era. As one reviewer notes, the film exists "in a world that is not post-AIDS, but is post AIDS Epidemic of the 1980s," a subtle but crucial distinction that infuses the film with a lingering, inescapable dread. A particularly resonant exchange occurs when the inspector asks Franck why the men continue to cruise after a murder. Franck’s reply is simple: "We can’t stop living." Stranger.by.the.Lake.AKA.L.inconnu.du.Lac.2013....