The film’s tension builds as the body is discovered and a police inspector, Damroder (Jérôme Chappatte), arrives to question the men at the beach. In his conversations with the inspector, Franck lies again, claiming he saw nothing the night of the drowning. As the investigation closes in, Henri, who has grown suspicious, correctly deduces the truth about Michel. He confronts Franck, attempting to warn him, but Franck is too deeply in the thrall of his obsession to listen.
The plot of Stranger by the Lake is one of brilliant, terrifying simplicity. After witnessing the murder, Franck is horrified but remains silent. His terror, however, does not extinguish his desire; in a perverse psychological twist, it seems to intensify it. Franck does not go to the police. Instead, he returns to the lake the next day and, when Michel emerges from the water, lies to him by saying he saw nothing. This pact of silence becomes a dark bond between them. Their sexual liaisons continue, charged with a new, even more dangerous energy. Stranger.by.the.Lake.AKA.L.inconnu.du.Lac.2013....
The film is structured around a predictable, almost ritualistic, daily routine: men arrive at a parking lot, walk down to a sunny beach, sunbathe nude, cruise, and meet in the surrounding woods for sexual encounters. The film’s tension builds as the body is