All of Us Strangers (2023)- BFI London Film Festival 2023

Review

105min

Genre:       Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Director:     Andrew Haigh

Cast:         Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy…and more

Writers:     Andrew Haigh and Taichi Yamada

-Synopsis-

A lonely gay screenwriter begins to develop a bond with an enigmatic neighbour in London while some visits back to his childhood home spark an unexpected reunion with his long-deceased parents, as both bizarre developing relationships open unhealed wounds but offer a chance at emotional closure, before a dark and unforeseen yet cathartic conclusion.

After spending the last fifteen years or so making a name for himself in indie cinema with soulful, moving and melancholy human dramas and relationship tales like ‘Weekend’, ’45 Years’ and ‘Lean on Pete’, British writer/director Andrew Haigh turns to Japanese literature to tell his most personal tale to date. Adapting the 1986 Taichi Yamada novel ‘Strangers’ and its 1987 Japanese film adaptation ‘The Discarnates’ and turning them into a poignant and unconventional British LGBTQ+ romance, and a moving family drama meditation on loss, loneliness, and unresolved grief.

Andrew Scott stars as solitary fortysomething British screenwriter ‘Adam’, living lonely existence in his London high-rise flat when he meets mysterious and alluring neighbour ‘Harry’ (Paul Mescal), with whom he begins a tentative romantic relationship, while an impromptu visit to his childhood suburban home inexplicably brings him face-to-face with his young ‘Mum’ (Claire Foy) and ‘Dad’ (Jamie Bell), whom he tragically lost in the 1980s. But his new unexpected social and family engagements soon plunge him back into the pains of childhood and his misunderstood sexuality, while he tries to come to terms with being a lonesome gay man in the present, only to be offered a chance at an emotional closure he thought long lost to time, before things take a shocking and poignant twist . . . which he just might be ready to handle.

With a subtle supernatural element at its core but an otherwise traditional yet modern character piece unfolding around it, ‘All of us Strangers’ approaches what is essentially a subtle ghost story in a matter-of-fact way without feeling the need to explain it, cleverly and skilfully treating it like a restrained and wistful time capsule family therapy session from beyond the grave—something no doubt many with unresolved childhood trauma or who’ve suffered loss can relate to or even wish for . . . particularly if you never got to say goodbye. Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of the Yamada novel is also a very measured and layered LGBTQ+ human drama of course, plus a gay coming-of-age personal reflection and a queer romance to boot, with the writer/director pouring his own sensibilities and experiences of the British gay experience in both a modern and a very different 1980s UK into the story.

As his previous work in ’45 Years’ and ‘Lean on Pete’ has proven, Haigh really does have a talent for tugging at heartstrings and moving the audience without a hint of artifice and cheap sentimentality, making sure his characters earn that connection and its emotional payoff, and he certainly isn’t afraid of exploring the dark spots of the human psyche or guiding his narratives into unforeseen and unexpected turns which pack a poignant punch. And ‘All of us Strangers’ is perhaps the clearest and most impactful example of this in his career thus far.

The film’s drama and its emotional impact are further heightened by a subtle dreamlike quality and an often wistful and melancholy mood, all blended into an atmosphere set by an often ethereal but occasionally unsettling synth score from composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (Rocks, Living), combined with a soundtrack of 80s pop and dance hits from the likes of the ‘Pet Shop Boys’, ‘Soft Cell’ and ‘Erasure’ which reflect the film’s protagonist and his conflicted youth.

As a layered and immersive character piece it ultimately falls on the actors to make Haigh’s bold and adept adaptation pop off the screen, and the writer/director cuts no corners in recruiting a fabulous foursome of young(ish) Irish and British stars, all on beautifully nuanced form. Led by experienced and versatile yet still relatively young Irish TV and film star Andrew Scott who delivers a powerful leading turn as an outcast and loner defined by his sexuality, unresolved guilt and grief, with a wistful and stoic façade betrayed by an inner turmoil bubbling beneath, but given an inexplicable and painful but enticing shot at closure and human connection—a lonely outsider in a city of over 8 million, a reflection of his time and place.

Scott is sublimely supported by fellow Irish star Paul Mescal who proves a bewitching and enigmatic love interest and emotional beacon to pull our protagonist out of his funk, but with deeply hidden emotional scars himself, all of which will ultimately test ‘Adam’ in alarming and unforeseen ways . . . for him and the audience.

But for us the real heart of the piece and strongest point of emotional resonance is the family drama element and the heart-wrenching but healing moments between the boy-become-man and the young parents who never really got to know him. With British stars Jamie Bell and Claire Foy proving pitch perfect as the young parents ill-equipped to deal with an outsider young gay son in the 1980s, but making up for it from beyond the grave with a deeper understanding and unconditional love which will surely stir the hearts of even the most jaded audiences, reflecting a wish which anybody can relate to—the chance to truly connect with our parents . . . or say goodbye.

The Bottom Line…

A mesmerizingly melancholy, powerful and poignant LGBTQ+ centred 21^st century character study but universally resonant family drama too, ‘All of us Strangers’ is a beautifully balanced human drama with a subtle otherworldly quality and a sting in the tail, and a moving meditation on loss, loneliness and unresolved grief built on the back of four pitch-perfect performances—proving not only Andrew Haigh’s most personal film to date, but his most accomplished too.

‘All of Us Strangers’ is out in selected US cinemas on the 22nd of December, and in UK cinemas on the 26th of January 2024.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Supernova (2020)

A RV road trip home to rural England for a middle-age artist/intellectual long-term gay couple is made all the more precious and definitive when the one suffering with dementia begins to steadily decline, while the other struggles with the inevitability of their predicament, while determined to hold fast until the bitter end as the roles in their relationship shift and its strains come to a head.

Directed by Harry Macqueen and starring Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci and Pippa Haywood among others.

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