THE STRANGE ONES
Starring James Freedson-Jackson & Alex Pettyfer - Directed by Lauren Wolkstein & Chris Radcliff
SXSW Film Festival - 2017 - Official Selection
Best Breakthrough Performance Winner - James Freedson-Jackson
Winner SXSW Film Festival
2017
Best Breakthrough Performance
James Freedson-Jackson in The Strange Ones
“The Strange Ones” is anchored by a quietly mesmerizing performance by James Freedson-Jackson. –LA Times
Freedson-Jackson gives a sensational central performance. –Austin Chronicle
The filmmakers have a true find in their young star, the magnetic James Freedson-Jackson -NPR.org
Freedson-Jackson is an especially potent force, deepening the drama with a performance built around his distant gaze. –Indiewire
Freedson-Jackson is a young actor to watch, with a riveting follow up to his previous movie Cop Car. -FilmInquiry.com
The picture’s crowning achievement comes from Freedson-Jackson. It’s hard to take your eyes off him. –FindYourSeen.com
A star in the making! - Film School Rejects
James Freedson-Jackson turns in another strong, taboo performance beyond his years. –Flickering Myth.com
The film is worth seeing because Pettyfer and Freedson-Jackson are so strong. The latter gives one of the great juvenile performances of recent years. He's so unsettling, and does such an intelligent job of capturing the dislocated feeling of a child suffering traumas that few adults could endure, that the image of his face lost in miserable thought becomes nearly as horrifying as the specific acts of violence in the movie. - ROGEREBERT.com
“The Strange Ones” is a mysterious puzzle box of a film, anchored by a quietly mesmerizing performance by James Freedson-Jackson. With breakthrough performances from
Freedson-Jackson and Pettyfer. - LA TIMES
Freedson-Jackson and Pettyfer are an electrifying team, using their faces almost exclusively to communicate feelings for one another. In certain two-shot exchanges, one actor’s glance appears adoring and sensual, while the next seems aggressive, macho, and vengeful. It was a tremendous creative risk for Radcliff and Wolkstein to pivot their feature debut on the facial responses of a young actor, but Freedson-Jackson’s “blank” look actually suggests an impossible intellect and self-control. It is a sensational central performance. -AUSTIN CHRONICLE
Freedson-Jackson is an especially potent force, deepening the drama with a sturdy performance built around his distant gaze. - INDIEWIRE
The filmmakers have a true find in their young star, the magnetic Freedson-Jackson. Not even 15 when The Strange Ones was shot, the actor turns Sam's fleeting youth into an existential horror, his glare piercing into everything and everyone he sees. The story hinges on Sam's actions, in the past and present, and Freedson-Jackson's cherubic face hints at what sort of uneasy attractions might have driven those choices. When he reverts to childishness around Nick, it is a queasy kind of immaturity, and it sets us off balance. - NPR.org
The film is worth seeing because Pettyfer and Freedson-Jackson are so strong. The latter gives one of the great juvenile performances of recent years. He's so unsettling, and does such an intelligent job of capturing the dislocated feeling of a child suffering traumas that few adults could endure, that the image of his face lost in miserable thought becomes nearly as horrifying as the specific acts of violence in the movie. - ROGEREBERT.com
Young Sam (played to perfection by James Freedson-Jackson, a star in the making who recently won the fest’s Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance) and the older, rugged Nick (Alex Pettyfer, in a frightening and dangerously sensual performance). Both halves of the film depend largely on the chemistry between Freedson-Jackson and Pettyfer, and the gamble pays off: they’re electric together, the danger and unsettling nature of their relationship slowly revealing itself both through their scenes together and Wolkstein and Radcliff’s masterful usage of close-ups and inserts. - FILM SCHOOL REJECTS
James Freedson-Jackson is the star here. His portrayal is enigmatic, soulful and completely captivating. Freedson-Jackson is a young actor to watch, with a riveting follow up to his previous movie Cop Car. - FILM INQUIRY.com