The Stranger: François Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ book follows a young Frenchman living in Algiers, who loses his mother and gets involved in the killing of a local man. The film is ponderous, and the protagonist, essentially indifferent to what happens around him, is not very easy to care about. Benjamin Voisin plays the charming, aloof protagonist well; Rebecca Marder plays his love interest, if one may call it that, quite effectively, and her beauty makes it easier to see why the protagonist would get interested in her. Pierre Lottin plays a neighbour, crucial to the story, with oily charm. Cinematographer Manu Dacosse shoots the film in a bright, solar, very attractive black-and-white. That doesn’t hide the stylish, classy work of costume designer Pascaline Chavanne and production designer Katia Wyszkop.