We Strangers
Commercial cleaner Ray (Kirby, “Killing Eve”) is in for an eye-opening experience when she accepts a high-paying job as a personal housekeeper and slowly, uncomfortably acclimates to high society. Costarring Sarah Goldberg (“Barry”) and Maria Dizzia (“Orange is the New Black”).
Director Anu Valia scheduled to attend May 18 screening.
Professional cleaner Ray (Kirby) has her services “bought” by a well-off suburban family who seems to find her novel. Trepidatious at first (but paid in advance), she goes along with the arrangement, only to become intoxicated by the tense game of manipulation at play. Purposefully unreliable in its telling, the story unfolds almost like parallel universes being witnessed at once; a version in which Ray is cocky and untouchable, acting out every impulse, and a hushed reality that pins her down by class and race, buried in subtext. In this world, the wealthy don’t ask of her; they expect. She, in turn, stays perceptive and charming, hiding behind the guise of a humble servant. We follow along as she is granted more and more access and opportunity to dismantle the beast from within. As she dives deeper into their lives, the danger of lingering too close multiplies, the soundtrack thrums a little more unhinged, and the façade crumbles.
—Marion Bailey
- Director: Anu Valia
- Principal Cast: Kirby, Sarah Goldberg, Paul Adelstein, Maria Dizzia, Tina Lifford
- Country: USA
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 86 min.
- Producer: Olivia Wingate, Alex Bach, Zach Spicer, Joy Jorgensen, Miranda Kahn
- Screenplay: Anu Valia
- Cinematographers: Charlotte Hornsby
- Editors: James Codoyannis
- Music: Jay Wadley
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Debut Feature Film
- Language: English
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- International Sales: Submarine