Stray, a dark drama written and directed by Nena Eskridge, will surprise you. Shot for under $100,000 – most of it raised by a Kickstarter campaign -- and helmed by a new feature director, the movie boasts excellent production values, realistic performances, and a haunting story that keeps you thinking about the main character long after the end credits roll. Jennifer, played brilliantly by Gabrielle Stone, faces a life on the run unless she finds the help she needs. Clearly, she is trying to escape something terrible in her past. But the actions she takes are shocking and cruel.        

She breaks your heart when doing wrong.

Her need to ditch the past is strong.

Is there a man who will help her?

She’ll keep searching and that’s for sure.

Even killing along the way –

is not taboo for this poor stray.

“Stray,” the movie, tells a dark tale

about abuse and lives that fail.

Director and cast members too

deserve a YAY and not a BOO.

Though fictional, the film seems real.

The players act like the real deal.

Not every film must be light fare.

So see this one. Just take my dare.

You’ll find yourself intrigued by Stray

until the end, and then you’ll pray.

Pity the folks Jennifer comes in contact with while she’s trying to work things out. There’s Marvin (Andrew Sensenig) who seems like such a nice guy and Greg (Dan McGlauglin) who gives her a job -- plus Sarah (Samantha Fairfield Walsh), a beauty who arouses Jennifer’s jealousy. Even Edna (the late great Arita Trahan), a colorful senior citizen, ends up tortured by Jennifer’s ways. It’s difficult to empathize with Jennifer, despite the abuse she must have suffered prior to becoming a stray. But Gabrielle Stone and Nena Eskridge actually make viewers feel sad for this killer.

With Stray, Eskridge definitely proves her ability to work on feature films. She has already been honored for her filmmaking skills on shorts. Andy, her short movie, was named Best Short at the Texas Film Expo.

I look forward to more full-length motion pictures written and directed by this talented filmmaker. Here’s hoping she will show her versatility by doing a musical comedy, my favorite movie genre!

I see myself more as a victim rather than a perpetrator. I was cheated out of my childhood. --- John Wayne Gacy

(Stray, from Indie Rights, is available on Amazon.com.)