Strangers by the lake

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A picturesque cruising spot in the countryside of France sets the scene between desire and murder. Franck, a regular at the lake, meets the handsome Michel and soon falls in love with the mysterious stranger. When a body is discovered in the lake, Franck and Michel soon become primary suspects of the investigation.

This French movie, written and directed by Alain Guiraudie , is set in a single location and has a dreamy quality to it: a mixture of allure and menace that's quite intoxicating. We never leave a sunny gay cruising area the characters are frequenting—a lake, a beach, a nearby boudoir of bushes—but our imagination is kept alert at all times: every image and every cut is underlined with tension. The main character is Franck Pierre Deladonchamps , an attractive guy in his thirties regularly enjoying everything the cruising spot has to offer: from a chat to a swim to a tryst. And while the latter enjoys Henri's company, he falls in love with Michel Christophe Paou , a sexy and mysterious Tom Selleck lookalike the entire beach is smitten with he's like a mids gay centerfold incarnate. Michel is initially aloof and goes to the bushes with someone else, but the next day he hits on Franck and they have sex.