Deadly Strangers

An unseen dangerous patient escapes from Greenwood Mental Hospital, setting the tone of impending danger. The escape leads to violent incidents as staff are killed or injured in the confusion that follows. This event marks the initial threat that threads through the story.

Soon after the hospital escape, a private house is burgled and the occupants discover their bedroom ransacked. The intrusion adds a sense of violation and foreshadows the creeping menace that will stalk the couple. It sets up the theme of unseen dangers entering ordinary life.

An unattended car is stolen from a motorist who stops at a telephone box to make a call. The thief, unseen, drives off and runs over the owner, killing him. The incident heightens the peril on the road and hints at a wider pattern of violence.

Stephen Slade spots Belle Adams at a pub and is drawn to her. He keeps his own background ambiguous while Belle appears wary of him. The moment sets up their fateful connection.

Belle is given a lift by a lorry driver, with Stephen following in his own car—the same colour and model as the murder car (an Austin Maxi). The lorry driver makes a violent advance toward Belle, who escapes; Stephen intervenes to rescue her. The tense pursuit tightens the couple's bond and stakes.

Belle hopes to catch a train, but Stephen falsely claims the train isn't running and offers to drive her instead. They travel together, the trip becoming a negotiation of secrets they keep from one another. Flashbacks are triggered as each reveals fragments of their pasts.

Flashbacks gradually reveal Stephen's voyeuristic perversions and Belle's childhood abuse by her uncle who spied on her behind peep holes. The revelations add psychological depth to their relationship and help explain their current mistrust. The past intrudes as they travel.

At an isolated petrol station staffed by a lone young woman, Stephen fills up and steps away to make a telephone call, then returns. Shortly after, the petrol station attendant is murdered, underscoring the deadly danger following them.

On the road they try to dodge police checks, initially to hide Stephen's drinking. They are harassed by two motorcyclists, and Stephen knocks one into the roadside, leaving him motionless. To evade detection, they sleep in the car overnight.

In the morning, Belle disappears; Stephen searches for her, assuming she has betrayed him. She has simply been shopping for breakfast, and Malcolm Robarts, an aging traveler, gives her a lift. Stephen reunites with Belle and leaves Robarts behind.

Robarts tries to chase the couple but cannot catch up as they slip away through traffic and terrain. The pursuit underscores the couple's dangerous dynamic and the fragility of trust between them.

The couple spends the night at a hotel, and a further flashback clarifies Belle's backstory and confirms the murder of her uncle. The revelation ties the couple's fates to Greenwood and the film's title.

Belle is finally arrested by the police, but not before she murders Stephen. The act resolves the mystery of their deadly relationship and explains why the film titles them as deadly strangers.