Stranger Eyes (2025 Montclair Film Summer Showcase) Film Review & Summary
Stranger Eyes has a strong middle, but its beginning and ending? It lacks what most films pursue to hook you and compensate for its weaker moments.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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“Stranger Eyes” Film Details
- Runtime: 2 Hour(s) and 5 Minutes
- Seen Via: Film Festival – Montclair Film Summer Showcase
- Released On: In Theaters
- Public Release Date: June 29, 2025
- Director(s): Siew Hua Yeo
- Writer(s): Siew Hua Yeo
- Primary Language: English | Non-English (Mandarin), Non-English (Min Nan)
- Genre(s): Drama
- Rating: Not Rated
- Distributor: Film Movement
Summary
Initially, Stranger Eyes appeared to be about a couple, Peiying (Anicca Panna) and Junyang (Chien-Ho Wu), whose daughter was kidnapped. However, as the movie goes on and secrets unravel, you learn there is more to this couple than their missing kid, and the kid is more so the latest issue between them, not the only one.
What To Expect In “Stranger Eyes” (Not Rated) – Content Overview
- Dialog:
- Cursing: Once or Twice
- Violence: There Are A Few Moments Which Can Be Seen As Violent, But Aren’t Notably So
- Sexual Content:
- Nudity: Tantalizing | Backside
- Sexual Situations: Implied
- Miscellaneous:
- Drinking: Yes
- Smoking: Yes
- Vermin: Maggots
- Could This Make You Cry: No
Links
- Check out our movies page for our latest movie reviews and recommendations.
- Official Site Link
- More Coverage Of The 2025 Montclair Film Summer Showcase
Review and Commentary
Highlight(s)
When We Learn About The Family Drama [82/100]
As noted in the next section, when Stranger Eyes begins, and the sole focus is on what happened to Peiying and Junyang’s daughter, it is dull. However, as a character named Wu (Kang-sheng Lee) is introduced, and we see him stalking both, and is presented as the kidnapper, things get interesting. Specifically, as he follows Junyang and we learn what Junyang has been doing in secret, things go from slouching in your seat, slowly finding yourself mentally prepping for a nap, to you being alert.
Now, I will admit, as seen in the content overview, what does get you interested is tantalizing and ultimately can feel a bit like a cheap, plastic hook. However, for a good portion after it brings up Junyang’s secrets, and then throws in Peiying’s, the film has you until it decides to throw you back into a sea of disinterest or wondering where this is going?
Low Point(s)
The First And Last Quarter Of The Movie [64/100]
The struggle which is watching Stranger Eyes is that it defies how most movies operate. It doesn’t aim to start strong and finish strong, but it packs everything good in the middle. Instead of trying to earn your interest, it makes you wait, and while we enjoyed the family drama Peiying and Junyang had, Wu’s reveals weren’t necessarily on the level to compensate for having to wait at least half an hour for the film to pick up.
But then comes the second issue of the film: once Wu’s adrenaline shot wears off, it loses steam again. Where it perhaps should have ended, with resolving what happened to the missing daughter, leads to a new storyline that has Junyang taking center stage, seemingly seeking Wu to learn about him as much as Wu had learned about his family.
In some ways, you may think that would be interesting, but the way Wu’s total narrative was handled, never mind Junyang flipping the script, it’s largely botched. So even when there is an effort to have things eventually come together, and make some sense, be it Wu’s motivation or the question of whether Peiying and Junyang can reconcile, you may have lost interest to the point that, what’s delivered won’t be good enough to end things on a high note.
Overall
Our Rating (73/100): Mixed (Divisive)
A part of me wants to applaud Stranger Eyes for its unconventional approach to handling the rise and fall of its narrative. However, I also feel that if you are going to go against the grain, you need to be sharp, on point, as some say, and have something which is undeniable. Stranger Eyes doesn’t have that.
It has some interesting drama, but I’d submit that one sex scene, which triggers the realization that there is more to Peiying and Junyang’s relationship than meets the eye, the film latched onto the shock of that for as long as it could. Once it let go, it ended up right back where it was, struggling to present an engaging story, never mind characters, and meandering its way to a finish which felt like an ellipsis or tacked on for the sake of Wu to make him seem layered rather than a creep.
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