| The Stranger in My Home is the same team behind The Image of You (a campy trashy thriller about identical twins, schizophrenia and murder) by novelist Adele Parks and director Jeff Fisher. This one, a dramatic thriller about daughters switched at birth, is definitely the same genre, but a bit more grounded and while the twists do threaten to overshadow the drama, there are some solid developments as well. | | 2025
Directed by: Jeff Fisher
Screenplay by: Adele Parks, Chris Sivertson
Starring: Sophia Bush, Amiah Miller, Chris Carmack, and Chris Johnson
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Sophia Bush stars as Ally, an assistant gymnastics coach, whose daughter Katie (Amiah Miller) is captain of the squad and somewhat popular – she’s well-liked by most girls but hated by the school’s mean girl and has a secret boyfriend. Sophia and husband Jeff then have a stranger at their door giving them unexpected news: Katie is most likely not their biological daughter, but switched at the hospital with his daughter which he just found out when his wife was dying of cancer.
Most of the drama and twists all fall out from that, which should be big enough, but there is plenty more going on in this story. It’s really about how the twists are handled in such a campy thriller, but for the most part, each twist comes at the right time, keeps the story interesting, and keeps you watching. The first smaller twist had a big hint dropped, which makes it predictable, but still very compelling; the next big twist is too predictable (one actor plays his character way too big and telegraphs everything in advance); and the next big twist is definitely more on the insane side, but it does help lead to a satisfying ending.
It also has a great setting. Nicely filmed in Utah, it’s set in a small town on the plains near the mountains. There’s a western and idyllic feel to the setting which gradually becomes a lot scarier up against how remote it actually is.
The Stranger in My Home is a clear step up from The Image of You. It’s still a campy, trashy thriller with a premise and twists straight out of soap operas, but it is reasonably well made, and most importantly, it has a satisfying ending. The twists all work together to lead towards a predictably-explosive, but ultimately a simple and pleasant end.
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