Just like clockwork, Netflix’s almost weekly release of a brand new original thriller has reaped massive dividends a mere 24 hours after debuting on the platform, with The Strays already one of the streaming service’s biggest hits.
Per FlixPatrol, the feature debut of writer and director Nathaniel Martello-White has clawed its way onto the Top 10 in a phenomenal 77 countries around the world, even if only five of those nations saw fit to launch the nail-biting story to a number one spot. That being said, as we head into the weekend, don’t be surprised if the tedious Your Place or Mine loses its place at the summit.
The Strays has proven to be fairly polarizing, though, with a strong 89 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes being offset by a significantly less enthusiastic 23 percent audience approval rating, but it’s easy to see why a genre flick that bears at least a couple of superficial similarities to Jordan Peele’s instant classic Get Out would sink its hooks into subscribers everywhere.
Ashley Madekwe’s Neve leads a seemingly perfect life in the suburbs with her picture perfect family and well-to-do job at a private school. However, a mysterious man and woman begin appearing unexpectedly at various points throughout her day, but when she takes her concerns to her nearest and dearest, she’s met with little more than disbelief.
Questioning her own sanity, Neve struggles to separate reality from fantasy, or does she? That’s the entire mystery in a nutshell, and it’s one that’s clearly proven irresistible to at-home viewers.
