Hi Stranger (2016) User Reviews

Has a really surprising amount to say.

[noahgibbobaker · 7/10 · 24 September 2020]

Hi stranger is... Strange, but has a surprising amount to say. The man in the video loves the sun set, when looking at it he says, "it's so nice to stop and take all this in, really makes you enjoy being alive". You should do what he says, especially with the whole covid situation a lot of people, including myself, are pretty anxious about it. What makes you enjoy life, whatever it is, take some time out of your day and do it. This short also has more themes that it touches on through what could seem like passing lines of dialogue. It is odd yes but that shouldn't stop you checking this out, definitely watch it, plus it's only 3 minutes long.

A small reminder of how creative and talented Lepore is

[bob the moo · 29 March 2017]

Since Kirsten Lepore has done Adventure Time and has been the darling of Vimeo for ages, I doubt I get any cool points for being one of many people to follow her brilliant stop-motion work. Hi Stranger is not the most ambitious of her projects, nor complex, but it is still a very creative piece that is enjoyable to watch. Compared to some of her other work, a mostly static character is not the most challenging to animate, but there is a lot of effort and clever touches in here.

The overall impact of the film is an oddly soothing tone which is a little unsettling at first, but wins the viewer over. The content seems to be about the creator, the viewer, and the craft of creation itself – but in small reflective touches, there is no grand statement or spectacle here. The dialogue and the manner of delivery works really well, as too does the soundtrack (which turns out to be the Windows start-up music slowed down to a crawl). It may seem like a small whimsy of a film, but it is really just another reminder of how creative and talented Lepore is.

First you need to make a connection before you act as if it is there

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 31 October 2017]

The (for whatever reason) award-nominated "Hi Stranger" is an animated short film from last year (2016) and a fairly recent effort by writer and director Kirsten Lepore in the English language of course. There is a guy lying on the ground, back into our direction, and he is talking to us. The entire film is not only breaking the 4th Wall, but also about this bald naked character there lying and being pretty close to us. The problem is it feels really weird if we not only do not have this connection, but do not even know him. The lack of clothes, awkward voice and looks aren't helping either. The move away from this white screen to a night sky makes a strong contrast, but still doesn't fit together at all. And the painting scene is also not as smart as it wants to be. This is really close to a failure overall I would say, but I'll still be somewhat generous with my rating. Overall, I don't see much talent or creativity judging from this one here and that's why I give it a thumbs-down. Being essential in terms of animation style is perfectly fine if the plot fits the approach and attention to detail is still visible like Hertzfeldt has proved many times. Lepore cannot prove that here. Watch something else instead.

Weird and slightly uncomfortable, yet at the same time oddly relaxing

[Rectangular_businessman · 3 January 2021]

Well, that surely was a weird short.

Even when Imdb labels it as "horror", I'm not entirely sure if the short was intended to be seen in that way. Personally I think it was inteded to be something bizarre and dream-like rather than genuinely creepy.

And while it is slightly creepy, the message at the end feels oddly comforting.