I Was A Stranger movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE:  I Was a Stranger

This dramatic film features the plight of refugees, and premieres in select theaters on January 9, 2026

RATING: PG-13  

LENGTH:  Approx. 90 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE:  A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

I Was a Stranger is a profound drama that explores what it truly means to love, serve, and see others in a new way. Inspired by the biblical teaching “I was a stranger, and ye took me in,” the film invites viewers to examine their assumptions, fears, and willingness to extend compassion to those who are different from them. It’s a thoughtful, message-driven movie that works best when watched with a heart open to self-reflection.

I WAS A STRANGER follows the lives of 5 people impacted by the violence of war and their heroic search for safety and belonging.

When a Syrian doctor is forced to flee Aleppo with her young daughter, one desperate choice sets off a chain of events that ripples across borders and pulls four strangers into the same storm: a smuggler trying to save his son, a soldier wrestling with his conscience, a poet searching for a peaceful home for his family, a Greek coast guard captain caught between duty and mercy. Their paths collide on one night in the Mediterranean, where survival is uncertain, and humanity is revealed in its rawest form. I Was a Stranger is a tense, deeply human story about the lengths people will go to protect the ones they love.

Directed and written by Brandt Andersen, I Was a Stranger stars Omar Sy (The Intouchables, Jurassic World), Yasmine Al Massri (Quantico, Palestine 36), Yahya Mahayni (The Man Who Sold His Skin, Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints), Ziad Bakri (The Weekend Away, Blind Sun) and Constantine Markoulakis (The Telemachy, Siege on Liperti Street).

The film was inspired by Brandt Andersen’s Oscar-shortlisted 23-minute film REFUGEE (2020), the film has already been featured in more than 40 global film festivals including winning the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Best International Feature at Raindance, Best International Feature at the San Diego International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature and the Honey Levine and Ed Sinatra Award at the Lighthouse International, Best International Feature – Audience Award at São Paulo International Film Festival and many others. It has garnered numerous audience awards, with performances lauded by festival juries as “extraordinary” and “mythology-making.”

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Parents may want to watch alongside younger teens and discuss the film’s messages afterward. It’s not appropriate for young children under 13.

• blood and wounds
• people dying
• destruction
• people in perilous situations
• You have to read a LOT of subtitles.
• Alcohol and cigarettes
• Various weapons are used
• People are in many perilous situations

THEMES:

• Kindness to strangers

• Service and sacrifice

• Overcoming fear and prejudice

• Families

• Displacement
• Refugees
• Hardship and suffering
• Ethical choices
• The cost of war
• Hatred and distrust of others

THINGS I LIKED:

• There is much to think about while watching this film, as well as after the final scenes. It’s powerful and will cause you reflect on your own values, as well as ask yourself what kind of person you are and want to be.

• The cast will be mostly unknown to audiences. They provide sincere performances that feel heartfelt rather than flashy because they look like regular people, not Hollywood celebrities. We learn a little bit about the war in Syria, more accurately called the Syrian Civil War, beginning in 2011. It is one of the most complex and devastating conflicts of the 21st century. Hundreds of thousands people were killed, millions were displaced in Syria, and millions more became refugees, especially in Turkey, Lebanon, and Europe. Ancient cities and cultural sites were destroyed. To this day, Syria is still divided and unstable.
• To help the viewer understand the different sections of the film, title cards are shown on the screen that tell us who we’re going to learn about: the doctor, the smuggler, the poet, and the captain. The movie ties the threads together perfectly.
• I’m always grateful when we don’t have to watch people get shot and die. This film does an excellent job leading up to violence without showing the gruesome and violent moments of death.
•  Without preaching, the film beautifully illustrates what people are willing to do for the ones they love and to live in peace and freedom.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• This is a tough film to watch because it depicts war, violence, and inhumane suffering.

• The pacing may feel slow for viewers expecting a fast-moving plot.

• Some scenes feel more instructional than cinematic.

• Limited character development in secondary roles. We don’t get final resolution for all of the main characters.

FUNNY LINES:

This film leans more serious than humorous, but there are a few gentle, lighthearted moments that provide warmth and balance to the heavier themes.

INTERESTING LINES:

“Words are weapons.” –  Jack  (Carlos Chahine)

MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE:

• Same Kind of Different as Me:  https://amzn.to/3NcFr4I 

• The Swimmers:  https://moviereviewmom.com/the-swimmers-movie-review/ 

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