★★★★☆ A hidden beach at the lapping edges of a glorious lake provides the sole setting for Alain Guiraudie's exceptional, erotically-charged French thriller Stranger by the Lake (2013) (released through Peccadillo Pictures next year). Having scooped a couple of awards earlier in the year at Cannes, it now arrives as the gala screening in the London Film Festival' 'Dare' strand replete with woozy visuals, heady passion, and an atmosphere of overwhelming suspense. The graphic gay sex will undoubtedly hog the headlines, but there is an awful lot more going on beneath the calm sun-dappled water than initially meets the eye.

In a shot that will be repeated during the film to deftly escalate tension, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) pulls up in a secluded car park. He makes his was down to the beach which, strewn with bronzed - and oft naked - men, is revealed as a local cruising spot. Men sunbathe,...