The Stranger is a 2022 Australian psychological crime thriller film written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris.

[3][4] Based on the non-fiction book The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe's Killer by Kate Kyriacou, and inspired by the murder investigation of Daniel Morcombe,[1] the film follows an investigation of a child abduction case, with an undercover police officer (Edgerton) in a sting operation tasked with getting close to and forming a friendship with the prime suspect (Harris).

Frame and Emery emphasize that the organization values honesty above all, and they push Teague to reveal any criminal history that could jeopardize it.

Frame becomes a mentor to Teague, drawing him further into the organization and introducing him to increasingly influential figures, all of whom are secretly undercover police officers.

Rylett finds holes in Teague's alibi for the night of the abduction and uncovers the fact that, under a different name, he had been convicted for an earlier assault of another child; this convinces her of his guilt.

The website's consensus reads: "A masterful blend of genre elements, The Stranger brings a tautly told mystery to life with simmering tension and a pair of outstanding lead performances.

"[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[1] The producers of the film responded with a statement: "The Stranger is a fictionalised account of the undercover police operation that resulted in a successful murder prosecution.

Instead it tells the story of the unknown police professionals who committed years of their lives and their mental and physical health to resolve this case and others like it.