Grappling with innocence, loneliness and how to confront grief and sexuality: All of Us
Strangers is sensitive, heart-tugging and a must-see film fresh to cinemas this month.
First hitting screens on Friday 26th January 2024, Andrew Haigh’s newest directorial feature, All of Us Strangers, flaunts a quartet of young British talent: Andrew Scott (Fleabag), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Claire Foy (The Crown) and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot). After being nominated for six BAFTAs and winning both best British independent film and best director at the British Independent Film Awards, this film proves itself as, not only a critically successful project, but a sensual, thoughtful and incredibly heart-felt cinematic piece.
Haigh adapts Taichi Yamada’s 1987 book, Strangers — a narrative that focuses on a scriptwriter reencountering his dead parents at the age they died, while falling in love with a woman in his apartment building. Instead of a heteronormative relationship, Haigh focuses on a gay experience, following Adam’s (Andrew Scott) interactions with his parents and his love interest, Harry (Paul Mescal). Re-envisioning this story through a gay perspective exaggerates the conflation between the past and one’s sexuality; Haigh is highlighting how one’s past is inextricably tied to sexuality, especially for the gay community.
This is a film about confronting and navigating the traumas of self-identity. As Adam begins to face his past — the loss of his parents and their reaction to his sexuality — he also enters into a blossoming relationship with Harry. It is clear Adam is lonely as he occupies an almost empty apartment block; yet he requires substance for the scripts he writes and as a solution he decides to revisit his past. His loneliness pushes him to confront his grief — the trauma of his parents’ deaths that has predetermined his solitary life.
Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of Adam’s reunion with his parents is their age. They
haven’t changed since the day they died 30 years ago; they are the same age as Adam
himself. Adam’s childhood innocence is resultantly very confused. Claire Foy and Jamie Bell remain stuck in the 1980s while Adam informs them about his future life and how things have worked out after their death. Their parental pride is exactly the same as you would expect for Adam’s teen self: an aspect which is equally heart-warming as it is gut-
wrenchingly sad. The family and its circle of love are so evident in each glowing and warm
scene when Adam returns to his family home. This love also ebbs into and grows alongside Adam and Harry’s relationship. It is only with the courage Adam finds in his romance with Harry that he opens up to his parents about his sexuality — a conversation that underpins the film’s focus on family, acceptance and trauma.
Scott and Mescal do more than justice to this story as their performances are individually
and collectively incredible. Mescal proves his unbelievable acting range, adopting a savvy
Northern accent to embody Harry’s younger, confident and audacious character. Haigh has described Scott as his ‘single protagonist’ so proving his role as pertinent to the film’s development. Certainly, Scott’s acting balances the weight of numerous emotionally challenging themes with ease. Their relationship on screen is naturally awkward, charged with flirtation and touch, and beautifully communicative of uncovering a stranger’s mostintimate personal life. Haigh’s film adopts a sensitive approach to unravelling the knots that trauma creates in all walks of future life. It is as upsetting as it is comforting and tugs at the rawest emotions — loneliness, love and grief. Be there a low blubber resonating around the cinema at points, All of Us Strangers is a touching must-watch for the start of 2024.
Written By: Liza Brook
Edited By: Rebecca McGeehan