The Strays stars Ashley Madekwe and Jorden Myrie won't tell you what to think
You'll be able to invite The Strays into your home this week on Netflix, but don't expect to fully understand how to feel about them.
The new movie, written and directed by Nathaniel Martello-White, sees Neve's (Ashley Madekwe) life start to unravel when two shadowy figures (Jorden Myrie and Bukky Bakray) arrive in her town.
That sounds like the typical set-up for a good vs bad thriller, with Neve firmly in the right and you totally on her side throughout.
However, The Strays offers no such easy choices. Throughout its runtime, your allegiances will shift and even by the end, you'll spend time debating just who was in the right – if anybody even was.
And that's exactly what the stars want as Ashley Madekwe and Jorden Myrie told Digital Spy when we sat down with them ahead of the movie's release.
The Strays keeps you on edge throughout and builds to an intense finale, so what was your first reaction to it when you read the script? Did you have any idea where it was going?
Ashley Madekwe: It was the option for me to play that role, a character that's going to go on such a complex, emotional journey. I'm daunted by the prospect of it.
From the first page, you're really intrigued because you kind of don't know where it's going to go, It's set up like a traditional horror movie and then very quickly goes all the way left and I didn't see the fourth act coming.
Jorden Myrie: No, not at all. I think the character Marvin's very different to myself. So it was kind of exciting to have that challenge of playing someone that's very different to you and exploring that and building who he is.
When we spoke to Nathaniel, he revealed how important it was for him to have a divisive and not totally sympathetic lead character. Ashley, was it tricky to play Neve knowing that audiences might not be on her side?
Madekwe: When you're playing a part, you can't think about whether people are going to empathise with her or not. You have to empathise with the character because you're playing it, nobody walks around their whole life thinking, 'I'm so wrong right now'.
You come from a place of believing in your choices. She does believe in her choices, she thinks she's doing the right thing. She's one of those people who definitely puts herself first.
But in terms of a technical aspect, I think Nathaniel was more aware than I was. I just tried to play the emotional truth of the situation and if people empathise within that moment, great and if they don't, that's okay too.
Myrie: I'm definitely empathetic towards Marvin and what he's been through. You can see it for all of the characters and I think that's why it's so well written and so well put together because everyone is a victim, really.
We get some of the backstory of "the strays" in the movie, but did you have time to flesh out your character's connection with Bukky Bakray's Dione ahead of filming, Jorden?
Myrie: Before we started shooting, we all came together as a cast and it was the first time we met actually and then we kind of split up into our little groups and did some improv scenes as well.
Me and Bukky did some scenes where we explored our past, so even before coming to find Neve. We explored that about dynamic and what that could be and how they got there.
It marks Nathaniel's feature directorial debut and since he's also an actor, did that change how he directed on set?
Madekwe: He gave us a lot of freedom. He never gave a line reading. I think he understands, he definitely understands what it is to be an actor.
We went to the same drama school. He was the year below me at drama school, so we had a shorthand already. He's a confident director. He knows what he wants and he's happy for you to find it yourself.
The Strays builds to an intense final section that was filmed in several long takes, was that a daunting prospect?
Madekwe: It was one of the last things we shot, so it was definitely, not hanging over us, but it was a destination on the schedule, I'll say. So we knew it was coming, it was almost like a marathon to get to that point.
Once we were doing it, I think everyone did really well, every department because it took everybody doing it and to be working in synchronicity for it to work. Luckily, it did.
Myrie: At that point, we were all very fully immersed into that and our characters, we knew them so well that we were just very on it and then didn't step out of that.
There's no easy answers to be found in the movie in terms of who to side with and who, if any of them, are in the right. What are you hoping audiences take from The Strays?
Madekwe: I want it to spark conversation. I want to open a dialogue about those issues about colourism and race, classism in this country, microaggressions, identity, code-switching.
I think it will spark conversation and Nathaniel was really smart in that those themes are central to the film but they're not questions that he's trying to answer.
Myrie: I hope that it makes people want to analyse these characters and start a conversation between who's in the right, who's in the wrong? Really delve into that.
The Strays is released on Netflix on February 22.
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