In America, there are plenty of jails and prisons (one might argue too many). Yet the only real way we confine ourselves is through the idea of class. We all eat, sleep and dream but are only valued by what we contribute and not how. It’s enough to drive a person mad, especially if you’re on the lower echelon. It’s a frustration that has started to subtly surface in cinema over the last decade beginning with Miguel Arteta’s Beatriz at Dinner and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. However, the exploration of how silly classism is rises to a new level in Anu Valia’s We Strangers.

 

As if working on comedies about marginalized groups such as Never Have I Ever and Nora from Queens wasn’t enough, Valia draws on personal experiences for her feature directorial debut. The film follows a young cleaner named Rayelle (or Ray) who becomes so bored with catering to two upper class families that she lies about being a clairvoyant. What originally starts off as a bit to keep herself entertained and earn extra money, quickly turns into a regular service. On top of cleaning their homes, she’s tasked with using her “ability” to clean up their emotional baggage. Inevitably, she’s forced to make a decision that could cost her stability

 

Now, it’s never entirely clear if Ray can speak to the dead - or see anything beyond the amount of money she makes daily. In fact, there are several times where she runs into serious misfortune in the film which make her lie even more apparent. The fact that the families she takes care of do not see it add to the film’s humor and also underscore just how oblivious privilege makes you. 

 

Ray is played brilliantly by Kirby Howell-Baptiste. While she’s dabbled in comedies (Barry) and dramas (The Sandman), her performance here feels like a perfect blend of both - and exercise in balance. Ray is not a comedian, but her ability to keep a straight face even when we know she’s very clearly telling her wealthy clients what they want to hear is undeniably funny. It’s when they start to piss her off, however, that we see her tell them how it really is under the guise of her “ability.” 

 

Ray’s fury is not the only way she demonstrates her seriousness. In private, we see her struggle to support her family members. In fact, there’s a whole subplot where she gets so wrapped up in living her lie that it creates a domino effect of misfortune for her mother. The ease with which she’s able to code-switch to maintain her status among her clients is the juiciest part to dissect. No matter how much she tries to fit in, how much extra money she makes scamming or how much more superior her mindgames make her feel, at the end of the day she must still return to her ordinary life. But slowly, Ray realizes that her clients are messy in more ways than one. And that tending to them may actually be chipping away at her self-worth.

 

As smart and funny as the film is, it does have a handful of flaws. For example, there are some threads to Ray’s story that are left open-ended. Particularly the fate of her clients, who are just so sleazy that you want to see where they end up despite seeing the Hell they’ve created for themselves. And although the film is briskly paced and told cohesively in less that 90 minutes, the ending is layered with arguably too much ambiguity that you may second guess the film’s main message.

 

That’s not to say there is a right or wrong interpretation. But there is something Valia clearly has top of mind. Early on in the film, there’s a sequence where the husband of Ray’s newest client attempts to connect with her by showing off his collection of photos of American flags. His goal is to take a picture of a flag from every state. The flags, while all the same, are shot from different angles. Some beautiful, some unflattering and some where you may not even be able to tell if it’s American at all. In the wide shot where we see all the photos he has collected, there’s a moment of silence. For Ray and the husband, it’s awkward. But for the audience, it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of profound reflection snuck in by Valia to show us what Ray’s ordeal really means. 

 

If you still can’t figure it out, the title is the most obvious hint. “We strangers” is not grammatically correct. But it is a perfect colloquialism to sum up how far we’ve distanced ourselves from decency. Similarly, the film is not perfect, but it perfectly captures how it feels to be living right now - if you can even call it living. While it’s unclear if we’ll ever return to a time where morality matters more than money, the film makes a strong case that progress may be indefinitely paused until class is completely dismissed.