Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times (2017) User Reviews

a story about personal growth

[mvrv33 · 9/10 · 19 December 2021]

The story of "Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" revolves around two men who cross paths with each other at different times in their lives. Each meeting has a great impact on one or other of them. Interestingly, the meetings are not displayed in chronological order. Starting with the second encounter, Alistair is introduced as a racist man, discriminating against Samir who merely tries to get money from a cashpoint. His actions soon backfire on him when he meets Samir for the third time. The first meeting of the protagonists is inserted before their last reencounter. This part of the movie offers some context to Alistair's racist behavior and the audience gets an idea about the environment he grew up in. I think the placing of the different sequences is very well chosen. The non-linear narrative adds greatly to the development of Alistair's character and the story in general. "Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is a story about racism but even more about reaching out to each other and personal growth. A marvelous movie that is definitely worth watching!

experience of feeling strange

[wknapriv · 8/10 · 12 January 2024]

"Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is a drama about two men. The story is about a white man with ginger hair and another man who seems to be an ethnic minority. They meet at the cash point and then the story progresses. This film consists of five stories of times they meet, but they do not remember their previous meeting at some time. This work is interesting as each time they meet is not in order. However, as the narrative progresses, the truth and their past are released. Thanks to the order, we can enjoy the suspense and that is one of the reasons I recommend this film. Their personality being opposite is another reason we can find the film interesting. It is a little difficult to understand the situation, so if you watch this film, you should listen carefully to what they say. I recommend this film to all generations as this is heartwarming and there is no particular age to watch.

Good film

[ganpon · 8/10 · 20 July 2021]

The story is about two men who meet in five different situations in their lives. However, the scene is not in the order and the first time comes into the fourth scene. Therefore, the story begins from the second scene where they are quarreling at the cash point. As time goes by, we can find that their relationship gets better even if neither of them remembers the other each time.

At the first scene which is the second time they meet, Alistair treats the Asian man, Samir, badly. From the second scene which is the third time they meet, that does not happen. I think people watching this film think: 'Why does Alistair treats Samir so badly?' in the first scene. And the reason for it is revealed in the fourth scene which is the first time they meet when they are children. I thought the story shows Alistair's change of mind about how he treats other people. What is important is not the race but the humanity. In that sense, I thought that it is a good film.

superb

[Kirpianuscus · 3 April 2021]

Maybe, superb is the only fair term to define it. Because it is just the expected telegram for many of us. Two men, very differents for so many aspects. And five meetings as borders of ages. Different reactions, different situations. And the fusion between the first and the last meeting. Short, a sort of contemporary poem. Must see it !

Beautiful and a Must See!

[PamelaClaire1 · 10/10 · 1 June 2018]

I loved this short film. A poignant look into today's world and all of it's judgmental fervor. Wonderfully thought-provoking and surprising. Everyone should watch!

Loved this

[vidpaleri · 10/10 · 8 November 2018]

Fantastic, would defo recommend, saw this at Manhattan film festival, loved it

Marvellous and hails back to when films tell a simple story beautifully.

[filmproduction-07563 · 10/10 · 2 June 2018]

A very well produced and directed short-film with excellent actors. Hails back to when films told a simple story beautifully. In every scene not a moment is wasted. Markou is a director to watch especially skilled in realistic, kitchen-sink drama. His debut 'Papadopoulos & Sons' is a wonderful little film. If you like a 'comic-book-cgi' this is not the film for you - however if you value Quality and a good story you will love and appreciate this little gem of a film.

good depicted

[risa_gu · 8/10 · 25 December 2021]

This is a short film released in 2007. This story is about two men, who happen to encounter each other five times in their lives. They are strangers to each other, but they meet at a crucial moment, a turning point in their lives.

The film is not depicted in a usual order but in a special order: it begins with the scene where they meet for the second time, and after depicts their third and fourth meetings. Then, the first meeting is depicted, and the fifth meeting are depicted in the end. I thought the change in the order of meeting is effective. They were compassionate as children, but later their arrogance and resentment sometimes showed. However, at times they helped each other, and at their fifth meeting, we surely know how much they care for each other. I think it is a heartwarming film, and I like it.

They are always "strangers" not friends

[nobaryuta · 6/10 · 13 July 2021]

The short film "Two strangers who meet five times" is the story about literally two men who meet five times as in the title. This short film starts at a cashpoint. Alistair, a white guy, is irritated waiting for Samir, a man of middle-eastern appearance who is trying to withdraw cash slowly. Alistair makes a discriminatory comment to him and Samir leaves. Then, Alistair has a job interview and it goes well until he meets Samir. Samir is the CEO and, because of Alistair's mean behavior, Alistair fails to land the job. Years later, Samir sees Alistair, who is now homeless and realizes what happened to Alistair after his job interview. Even though Samir seems not to remember him, he is nice to him and finally gives money.

This short film is an example non-linear story telling so it starts with the second time they meet. The story goes to third time and fourth time next, and then first time. Lastly, the scene goes to the fifth time. This construction of the narrative helps us to understand how Alistair's feeling changes through the scenes. In addition, because they are always strangers, it is easier to see their changes. If they are friends not strangers, the attitude and behavior could be different. I also like the irony that Alistair finally become nice to Samir even though he behaves not nicely the first time.

Marvellous

[jamestkirk-29928 · 10/10 · 12 August 2019]

A beautifully-told story of our times directed with such a light touch by Marcus Markou allowing the tension and emotions betwen the actors to reach out to the audience. How can two strangers meet five times? What if they don't recognise each other each time - until the end when it is the face of the human heart that brings recognition to all. Putting The First Time segment between the Fourth Time and Fifth Time is an absolute masterstroke. See it (it's on You Tube) .....and pass it on.

Good Story

[daikibaseball-04275 · 6/10 · 21 July 2022]

The short film "Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is the story of two men.

Alistair and Samir meet five times. This movie starts when I meet for the second time. Samir is at an automated teller machine and is taking some time. Alistair waits for Samir to finish, but he's late. White Alistair is frustrated waiting for Samir, a Middle Eastern-looking man who is slowly trying to withdraw cash. Alistair makes a discriminatory remark to him and Samir leaves. In the next scene, Samir is the CEO, and Alistair's nasty behavior prevents Alistair from getting a job. A few years later, Samir meets Alistair, who is now homeless, and understands what happened to Alistair after the job interview. Samir doesn't seem to remember him, but he is kind to him and finally gives him money.

This story is a little different in composition. The composition of this story helps to understand how Alistair's emotions change throughout the scene. I also like the irony that Alistair will finally be kind to Samir, even if it doesn't behave well at first.

At the end, I was glad that they had a good relationship. I recommend this short film.

Good movie

[vxyytcsg · 9/10 · 9 January 2024]

I watched this movie and found it to be a comedy. Two aspects of the film particularly intrigued me. Despite racism being a central theme, the positive portrayal of the relationship between the two characters made it challenging to discern which aspect was the primary focus. Nonetheless, the storytelling was compelling, drawing me in with the idea that 'a filming is a manager of emotions.' Frankly, I considered the concept of meeting someone unexpectedly five times in one's life, where each encounter becomes a pivotal moment for that person, to be a captivating element. Such encounters seemed simply enviable.

What comes around goes around.

[rinachoco · 7/10 · 5 January 2024]

'Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times' is a drama about two men who don't know each other, but they meet five times throughout their lives in the UK. First, we see the scene where they meet in front of the cash point for the second time. Samir, who is an ethnic minority, is having trouble operating cash points. Alistair, who is white, gets irritated because of him, so he says rude things to him. After that, they meet again in a job interview at Samir's company. Samir remembers the encounter at the cash point, but Alistair doesn't. I learned 'what goes around, comes around' from this drama. When you cause harm to a person, the person will never forget that. Besides, when you treat a person with infinite tenderness, the person will never forget that. Why do they meet five times in their lives? This question will be a key to this drama. I think they must meet five times in their lives after watching this. This is a great short and is well worth seeing.

Interesting story

[sumomo1129 · 10/10 · 8 January 2024]

"Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is an everyday human story. The two men meet five times without even realizing it. Alistair is racist, which causes him to fall into poverty. The other man, Sammy, is treated with discrimination, but he is a wealthy man. The two men lead completely different lives. I think this story depicts how a discriminatory man changes. The scene where they first meet reveals why he is discriminatory. When they meet for the fifth time, the audience realize that he is not the same person he was before. I feel that people's values are easily influenced by those around them and change. "Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is really worth seeing. This film may not only move you, but may also teach you something important.

Interesting Story Order

[ayane-57200 · 8/10 · 9 January 2024]

"Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is a short film about two men, Alistair and Sammy, who meet five times in their lives. Alistar is a white man, and Sammy is an immigrant. This is important for this film. This film is not told in chronological order, so it starts with the second time, and we can know their first time meeting after the story progresses. I feel it makes us get to know these two guys more deeply because in this scene, we can see the development of their personalities, especially Alistar's, so I like this film's structure of the story. Through this film, what impressed me most was that when the other person did something to someone, they remembered that person, and conversely, the person who did something to them did not remember, such as in the third time Sammy remembers Alistair, but Alistair doesn't, and for the fourth time Alistar remembers Sammy, but Sammy doesn't. I think this film is important to think about racism, so I recommend watching it.

The skill of writer and director is good

[yasumaru-32948 · 9/10 · 12 January 2024]

The two strangers who meet five times is a very good short film. I feel that the story is simple, but I was impressed with the way the director shows the story to the audience. The story starts the second time Alistar and Samir meet. Alistar meets Samir at the cashpoint. Alistar is annoyed because Samir takes a long time, and he abuses Samir. He also says racial things like "Isis" to him. This is their second time to meet. The next scene is the third time they meet. After a while from the second meeting, Alistar goes to the job interview, but the CEO of that company is Samir. Samir remembers Alistar, so Alistar cannot get the job. The fourth time to meet is after a couple of years from the third meet. Alistar has become homeless and begs for money from the pedestrians. Alistar happens to meet Samir on the street and talks to him, but Samir does not remember him. However, he gives him money and advice to live. Then, we can see their first meeting. When both are children, they happen to meet at the sandpit and play together. Alisar's mother says things that discriminate against people of color and makes him go home. We can finally know the origin of Alistar's racism from this scene. In the last scene, on their fifth meeting, Alistar comes to Samir's home as a volunteer to look after him after he has dementia. Alistar does not remember Samir, but he realizes something and asks Samir "Do I know you?" Samir looks like he remembers Alistair.

The order of the scenes is not 1 2 3 4 5, but 2 3 4 1 5. If I saw their first meeting first, I would not think Alistar is not a good guy, as his characteristic comes from his mother, and I would not be impressed by his spiritual growth. I was impressed with the power and the skill of the director and film makers.

Interesting title

[blackhayatego · 8/10 · 13 July 2022]

Alistair meets Samir for the second time at a cash point. Alistair gets annoyed because of his slow behavior. Then, he says to Samir some discriminatory remarks. A few years later, when they meet for the third time, Alistair takes an interview test to join a company. Samir is the CEO of the company. For the fourth time, Alistair loses his house. Samir passes by him and gives some money to help him. For the fifth time, Alistair works as a helper and comes to talk to an old man who seems to have dementia. The man is Samir. The last scene is the first time they meet in their childhood.

The genre of this movie was human drama, and it was made in 2017. It has an interesting structure. The key point is they meet as "two strangers" all the time. This is because one man doesn't remember the other for the last time they meet. I don't know whether they didn't remember intentionally or accidentally, but it is interesting to think about the story of the blank time. It's very worth watching.

review

[ktkt-80912 · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

'Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times' is a short film. Alistair and Samir meet five times. The first time they meet in the sandbox when they are young, the second time in front of an ATM, and the third time when Alistair has an interview to join Samir's company. The fourth time is when Alistair is homeless and asking for money on the street. The fifth time is when Alistair comes to help out at a care home for the elderly. When they are old enough to meet, they can put aside their prejudices and meet each other. This film,'Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times', is a little difficult to understand on first viewing. But after you see it a few times, you will understand. I think that this film is worth seeing.

Changes in relationships

[sknrk-47889 · 8/10 · 9 December 2023]

"Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is a drama that depicts the development of the relationship between two characters. One day, the two meet on the street, but this is not actually their first encounter. They end up meeting five times in total. During their first and second encounter, Samir, who is of Middle Eastern descent, is insulted. However, in the third and fourth meetings, the positions are reversed and Alistair, a white Englishman, is in a lower position. The story is gripping, and it makes us think about how the two people's positions and situations have changed drastically over time. The development of the story is interesting, but there are some dark parts as one of the themes is racial discrimination. In the final scene, Samir doesn't speak a single word, but by refusing to let him speak, I think this has the effect of making the ending of the story even better. I recommend watching this short film.

difficult

[rinopechi · 6/10 · 20 July 2022]

'Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times' was made in 2017. It is a story about two strangers who meet five times at different times in their lives. The film begins with the scene where they meet for the second time. I thought the order was changed to more clearly express the gap between Alistair and Sammy's positions, which are reversed. I do not like this film. There are two reasons. First, it is a little difficult to understand. I get the gist of the story, but their social position changes each time they meet, so I could not tell which man was Alistair or Samir. They seemed similar and I could not get much of the content in my head. The second reason is that it clearly depicts that children raised by a racist mother are racist. This also felt like a kind of discrimination. This is cruel. After watching it and understanding the content, I did not feel very well. For these reasons, I did not like this film, but my friends were impressed. It is a movie that different viewers feel differently about. I felt that if I watched it again, I might discover something else.

Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times

[kurohdo91 · 8/10 · 13 January 2024]

I watched a movie called Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times. It's a British film by Marcus Markou. It tells the story of two men, seemingly very different from each other, who happen to meet five times over the course of several decades. Alistair and Samir meet five different times, but it is only when they meet as old men that they can finally put their prejudices aside and meet as friends. This film champions friendship and compassion over separation and distrust. We've met five times and we're both strangers every time, but maybe in the end we know it all. It was a very warm and fuzzy feeling, including the aftermath of the meeting. The film brought up the issue of racism. Once again, I thought about the importance of being kind to everyone and being careful how you treat people.

Brilliant, just brilliant

[suhjoon33 · 10/10 · 27 July 2023]

This shows how a simplest plot - two man meeting five times in their lives, and each time them changing, becoming better person - can make a good movie. Short, but it has everything it needs.

The two man hurts each other at first, but as a result, the two help each other, becoming a better person. It's so brilliant how the same event happening five times in the film could wrap up one story so clean.

This film shows what a.good deed can do. One man helps the other man and he ends up getting help from the person he helped years later. It also shows how one person's power can be weakened so much on what kind of situation they are in. The other man's power and confidence definitely weakened when he was in a desperate situations.

A great movie.

life is an accumulation of encounters, actions, and choices.

[enamiyamoto · 10/10 · 9 January 2024]

"Two Strangers Who Meet Five Times" is a drama about two men encounter in their lives. Two men have a terrible encounter at an ATM in London. However, this is not the only time they meet; they miraculously meet five times throughout their lives. Alistair and Samir meet many times on their lives, and their actions greatly influence their future lives. The way the movie is presented is very clever and does not show his encounters sequentially. Also, their positions and situations are all very different in each scene they meet. It's also very interesting to see how Alistair's personality changes as the number of times they meet accumulates. It nicely expresses that life is an accumulation of encounters, actions, and choices. The final scene is very heartwarming, proving that their meeting turned out to be a wonderful thing. The fact that they are both smiling and spending time together at the beginning and the end is a very nice development.

moving story

[misa-44872 · 8/10 · 20 July 2022]

"Two Strangers who Meet Five Times" was released in 2017. The pair meet five different times in life on different occasions. The occasions are not shown in order. And as time goes by, their relationship improves, even if neither remembers the other.

I like this movie. The reason is due to the order of the scenes in this movie: the second time they meet at the ATM, Alistair is prejudiced and behaves badly towards Samir, who is Asian. The third time we meet Alistair, he is not like that. As you watch the story, wondering why, the reason becomes clear. When the two meet for the last time, they are a volunteer helper and a patient. I was very moved by the scene where they gradually put aside their prejudices and meet again as simply human beings. This film is wonderful because it teaches us the importance of treating people equally without racial or gender prejudice.

I thought it showed Alistair changing his mind about how he treats others. What is important is humanity, not race. In that sense, I thought it was a good movie.

Encounter

[naotabe · 8/10 · 13 December 2023]

This is the story of a ethnic migrant man, Sammy, and a white man, Alistair, in the UK. It begins when they meet for the second time. The white man is racist and says racist terms to Sammy. The third time, the two meet at a company. Alistair is interviewed and learns that Sammy is the CEO of the company. Sammy remembers him, man, but Alistair does not remember Sammy. The fourth time, the two meet on the street. Alistair is homeless and happens to meet Sammy. Alistair remembers him, but Sammy does not. But Sammy helps him out with some money. The structure of this short film is very meaningful. If it started with the first encounter, the film would not work so well. I recommend this short film to anyone who wants to see a heartwarming film.