$9.99 | iTunes
Released: 2001
The feature debut of writer and director Patrick Stettner, The Business of Strangers is a taut indie drama about a successful businesswoman and her new assistant stuck overnight in an airport hotel, locked into a subtle game of control and manipulation. A bristling fugue on power infused with a dark humor, the film stars Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles and Frederick Weller. With tightly drawn characters and textured performances, this IFC Film drama explores the constantly shifting balance of power between the middle-aged executive and the headstrong young woman, as they strive to gain the upper hand over the course of the night. On her way from the airport to a high stakes presentation, corporate climber Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) gets a call on her mobile phone that her firm’s C.E.O. is flying in for an unexpected meeting with her. Anticipating the worst, she immediately sets up a preemptive meeting with headhunter Nick Harris (Frederick Weller) to line up her next position. After wrapping up a botched presentation, Julie furiously dismisses her new technical assistant, young company underling Paula Murphy (Julia Stiles), who arrived late from the airport with Julie's presentation materials. When Julie returns to the airport hotel to unwind, she runs into Paula at the hotel bar. Over a conciliatory drink, Paula swiftly turns the tables on Julie; playing off of the career woman's earlier actions, Paula coolly calls into question the choices Julie has made in life. As the night progresses, the two women get to know each other, in the spa, on the dance floor, and over drinks in Julie's executive suite. When Nick shows up at Julie's room for a friendly nightcap, their game takes a dark turn, and he becomes the unsuspecting pawn in their complex battle of power, authority and wits.