"The Strays" is a 2023 British psychological horror film, distributed by Netflix.
Cheryl Blake, a fair-skinned biracial woman living in England, is unhappy with her current life married to an abusive husband, while experiencing financial troubles and racial discrimination. After confiding her woes to her sister over the phone, she leaves a note on the fridge for her husband, claiming (falsely) that she will be going to the hair salon.
Years later, Cheryl—now known as Neve Williams—is living a completely new life as a deputy headmistress at a rather posh-like private school, all whilst living in the suburbs with her white husband, Ian, and their two biracial children, Sebastian and Mary.
Life could not be better for her.
Until one day she catches sight of two dark-skinned Black teens—Carl and Dione seemingly stalking her. Her fears begin to heighten when one the two teens slowly merge into her new family's lives, something that can threaten her new privilege life, and betray the fact that these two teens are from her past as Cheryl.
Not to be confused with the similarly-named comedy film also released in 2023.
The film contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Cheryl's first husband, Michael, was all but stated to be this. Cheryl/Neve uses this as the reason why she walked out on the family so abruptly. However, based on Carl's response, she wasn't that far off either.
- Always Someone Better: While Carl and Dione befriend Sebastian and Mary and get their newfound half-siblings to get in touch with their blackness, they burst out at them for their privileged lifestyle, and for being Neve's favorite children. Of course, the "favorite children" aspect becomes moot at the end of the film.
- Becoming the Mask: When Carl sees Dione getting a little too excited about meeting her half-sister Mary, he sternly reminds her of their mission.
- Big Brother Instinct: Carl is genuinely incensed at seeing Sebastian getting bullied by a racist white classmate. He helps his little half-brother "solve" this problem by having the bully bludgeoned by a basketball.
- But Not Too Black: Neve's attitude toward her blackness in a nutshell. While she proclaims herself to be a proud Black woman, her actions and lifestyle show otherwise. Her two children, Sebastian and Mary, do not entirely share this sentiment, as in one scene, Sebastian plainly states that he and his sister are Black, and Mary is later seen allowing her half-sister Dione to do her hair in braids.
- Colorism: The film all but states that Neve's easy assimilation into her new all-white community was mostly helped by her lighter skin. Case in point, she panics when she sees two random dark-skinned teens merely standing around in the neighbourhood. The jealousy felt by her original children Carl and Dione towards Sebastian and Mary is almost certainly fueled by the fact that the former two are dark-skinned fully Black individuals, while the latter two are white-passing (and their mother's favourite children).
- Double Meaning: Neve's friend telling her "You're practically one of us" in response to the latter's desperate attempts to prove herself with the Gala fundraiser. While she may have meant it as "Neve is practically a valued member of the community", considering the film's racial themes, it mostly comes off as "Neve is practically white".
- Double Standard: When Ian confronts Neve about having abandoned her previous kids to an abusive father, she points out that she did what men have been doing for a long time.
- Downer Ending: Ian is brutally killed by Carl in their family gym, and Neve, now with her new life in ruins, runs away with the delivery guy, abandoning both sets of children.
- Exact Words: Carl assures Sebastian that he will not hurt his father Ian. He never says anything about killing him.
- Freudian Excuse: Carl and Dione's anger towards Neve and her family was the result of Neve (as Cheryl) having abandoned them to their abusive father and aunt.
- Heritage Disconnect: Sebastian and Mary try to make some surface level attempts to explore their Black side, such as Mary wearing her hair sleeked back with gelled edges, and Sebastian listening to rap music. Unfortunately they can't express themselves further due to Neve having banned anything overtly Black from the house.
- Internalized Categorism: Neve makes every attempt to distance herself from her blackness by disregarding her Black heritage, forcing herself to speak in a posh upper-class British accent, and hiding her natural hair under some ill-fitting wigs. She also forbids her mixed-raced children from exploring their Black heritage, to the point that she absolutely horrified when Mary comes home with her hair in braids (courtesy of Dione).
- Internal Reveal: Neve is Cheryl, something the audience already knew.
- It's All About Me: Cheryl escaped her abusive ex-husband, but abandoning Carl and Dione in the process. After the latter two attack her new family, Neve escapes the house with the delivery guy, completely abandoning her second set of children.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As horrible as Neve abandoning all of her children is, one can't help but feel that Carl at least has it coming, as his spiteful excursion to kill Ian is what provides his mother with the opportunity to make her getaway.
- Meaningful Name: Cheryl renames herself to "Neve", which means "snow" in French, another blatant attempt to whitewash herself.
- Older Than They Look: Neve's friend at the coffee shop is astonished to see that Neve "hasn't aged a bit".
- Pass Fail: Subverted. Everyone knows that Neve is Black, and no one seems to be making a fuss about it (not to Neve's face anyway). Despite hiding her hair under some straight wigs, she still physically presents as Black. The "passing" part applies more to her behaviour, which she's trying to mold into that of a white upper-class British woman.
- Pet the Dog: In spite of their jealousy toward them for having what they never did, Carl and Dione never cross the line into mistreating their half-siblings for this, both coming close (on a rooftop and in a hotel room respectively) but pulling back just in time. As unhinged as they are, they seem to genuinely care about their half-siblings.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: One of Sebastian's white classmates refers to him and Carl as "inbreds". No points for guessing what word he really wanted to say.
- Rage Breaking Point: When Neve attempts to get rid of the already mentally and emotionally troubled Carl and Dione by writing them a hefty check, it sends them into a full-blown psychotic episode where they break into Neve's house and attempt to force a new familial relationship with her, her husband and children.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Poor Ian. He openly disapproved of his wife having abandoned her previous children and tried sympathizing with the Carl and Dione, even after they had broken into the house. Unfortunately, Carl was put off by his threat to divorce Neve, so he crushes him to death with a barbell.
- Sound-Only Death: When Ian's arms give out under the heavy weight of the barbell, the audience is treated to a sickening crunch as the barbell crushes him. The only other indicator of his gruesome death is the blood splatter on the camera.
- The Reveal: Carl and Dione are Neve/Cheryl's children from her first marriage.
- Token Minority: Neve, Sebastian, and Mary are not just the only Black people in their neighbourhood, but also the only people of colour.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never shown if the school bully survives being bludgeoned with the basketball by Sebastian. The bone-crunching sound suggests that he didn't.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Invoked In-Universe by Carl, who's weirded out by Neve's posh accent.
