[7] Franck is a regular visitor to a nude beach and the woods surrounding it, both of which are a popular cruising destination for gay men.

When the body of the drowned man is discovered and identified, a police investigator begins to question the men at the beach; Franck tells the investigator that he did not see anything unusual on the evening the man drowned.

Henri, who has correctly intuited the events that have occurred over the past several days, warns Franck about Michel.

Henri leaves to take a walk in the woods, casting a glance back at Michel as he departs.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Sexy, smart, and darkly humorous, Stranger by the Lake offers rewarding viewing for adult filmgoers in search of thought-provoking drama.

[14] Reviewing on Roger Ebert's website, Michał Oleszczyk awards the film four out of four stars, praising Guiraudie's directing and the acting of the cast.

He writes: "Stranger by the Lake is the sexiest and most elegant thriller in years..."[15] The Village Voice film critic Melissa Anderson calls the film "Guiraudie's most sexually explicit and narratively taut work," adding that "the writer-director's attention to the anarchic pull of lust, simultaneously celebrated and reproved here, is sharper than ever.