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Hero image for Perfect Strangers

Perfect Strangers

Film (Full Length and Trailer) – 2003

M
Mature

Gaylene Preston's gleefully unpredictable thriller can be watched in full on NZ On Screen. One night at a West Coast pub, Melanie (Australian actor Rachael Blake, from Lantana and Sleeping Beauty) meets a charming stranger (Sam Neill) and agrees to go back to his place. Next thing she finds herself on an isolated island. Has Melanie discovered danger, or the perfect man? Fear, desire, and anger all surface. Many of Perfect Stranger's best reviews came from outside Aotearoa. It was nominated for 11 NZ Screen Awards, including Best Film, Director and Screenplay; Blake won awards at festivals in Portugal and Russia.

Gripping yarn. Great acting. Bonzer photography. Thriller/horror/love story/comedy. Actual West Coast pub.
– Sam Neill summarises the main attractions of Perfect Strangers, Onfilm, December 2003, page 12

Acknowledgements

Funded by the NZ Film Production Fund & the NZ Film Commission, in association with NZ On Air and Television New Zealand
Presented with thanks to the Aotearoa/New Zealand Film Heritage Trust – Te Puna Ataata

Music

Closing credits songs:
'Not the Girl You Think You Are' composed by Neil Finn and performed by Crowded House

'Forever Stay' composed by Jay Cassells, David Donaldson, Steve Roche & Janet Roddick, and performed by Plan 9

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