The Stranger (2022)

The police suspect Henry Teague of the abduction and murder of a young teen but lack proof. They use the Mr. Big procedure to elicit a confession while continuing to search for evidence. Undercover police officer Paul Emery introduces himself to Teague during a long bus ride and strikes up a friendship with him. After gaining Teague's confidence and sympathy, Emery introduces him to a criminal acquaintance, Mark Frame. Frame, who is also an undercover police officer, offers Teague low-level work in a supposed criminal organization. Frame and Emery emphasize that the organization values honesty above all, and they push Teague to reveal any criminal history that could jeopardize it. Teague admits to having been in and out of jail, culminating in a two-year sentence for assault, but claims to be otherwise clean. The undercover officers portray Emery as having gotten himself into a great deal of trouble, which the organization clears up through their police contacts. Teague is recruited and tasked with helping to get a fake passport and plane ticket out of the country for Emery. Before pretending to leave the country, Emery urges Teague to trust Frame and be honest with the organization, which he says will protect him. Frame becomes a mentor to Teague, drawing him further into the organization and introducing him to increasingly influential figures, all of whom are secretly undercover police officers. Teague comes to rely on Mark for companionship; in one sequence, Teague plays the 1982 Icehouse song "Trojan Blue" and dances to its opening bars while Frame watches. Teague later makes a sexual advance toward him. Frame relays any information gained from Teague to Detective Senior Constable Kate Rylett, who investigates it further. Rylett finds holes in Teague's alibi for the night of the abduction and uncovers the fact that, under a different name, he had been convicted for an earlier assault of another child; this convinces her of his guilt. After Teague briefly disappears, the police fear he may be getting anxious. A police officer pretending to be corrupt relays information to Teague that he is about to be charged. Frame tells Teague that the head of the organization, John, needs to see him. John reminds Teague that his organization can give him a new life, as they did with Emery. To make this possible, John says Teague must reveal all the details of the crime so the evidence can be erased. Frame becomes agitated as John nervously bumbles some of his lines. However, Teague is convinced to confess and takes the undercover police officers to the scene of the crime in the woods, where he is arrested. After a long and painstaking search for evidence, one of the dozens of officers finds some physical evidence (exactly what is not shown). At the same time, Frame becomes haunted by the case, feeling sadness and anxiety. He starts to have trouble sleeping and becomes overprotective of his young son, who also starts to develop anxiety as a result of his father not letting him go outside the house.