All of us strangers: Kudos to Andrew Scott

I wanted to love All of us strangers. The film has won both critical and audience acclaim and was nominated for multiple BAFTA awards. It is a deeply moving and powerful film, exploring the themes of grief, loneliness and identity.

All of us strangers | Released in Australia January 2024 | Viewed January 2024 | Directed by Andrew Haigh | Main cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell

There are only four characters in the film. Andrew Scott plays Adam, a screenwriter living in a modern London block of flats, procrastinating over his latest project. There is only one other occupant in the building, Harry, played by Paul Mescal. The other two characters in the film are Adam's parents, played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell. All four actors are incredible, with pure and flawless performances that you cannot help but admire.

Adam is depressed and lonely, still grieving over the sudden death of his parents when he was a child. He lives in the past, immersing himself in 1980s music and childhood memories, struggling with his identity as a gay man. Adam begins a relationship with Harry, and it seems like there is some hope for the future. This present-day action is interspersed with Adam's visits to his childhood home in Croydon, where he encounters his late parents, unchanged from when they died 30 years ago.

The connection between Adam and Harry deepens but Adam is drawn to his past and continually visits the ghosts of his parents in an attempt to heal deep wounds. Adam seems determined to speak to his parents as an adult gay man, to help himself move past the bullied and uncertain boy that he was and to ease the indelible loneliness he is still experiencing.

I cannot put my finger on why the film did not leave the impression on me that I thought it would. Andrew Scott is absolutely superb, his talents on show with minimal dialogue, as he expertly uses facial expressions to convey the sadness and loss from which Adam could not free himself. Claire Foy is magical as Adam's mother, and their conversations are deeply moving.

The film is beautifully shot and the supernatural elements are somehow believable, largely due to the emotional depths that the interactions between Adam and his parents' ghosts achieve. The conversations over Adam's sexuality are moving and authentic. I just feel that the film is deeply, deeply sad, and did not leave me with any kind of hope to take away from it. The film does deserve kudos, though, for the representation of gay relationships, handled sensitively and lovingly throughout. I just did not feel as invested in that part of the film as I was in Adam's journey towards closure. I could have watched an entire film on that journey without the Harry storyline, especially as it is so painful at the end. The film is a beautiful tragedy but I wanted something more hopeful from it.

Did it make me think? Yes? Did it make me feel? Yes? I just think the bleak and hopeless nature of the ending impacted too heavily on my viewing experience.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(for Andrew Scott's powerful performance)