I’ve been wanting to see ALL OF US STRANGERS for several months and my dream finally came true. Easily one of my favorites of 2023, ALL OF US STRANGERS, might not be made for everyone. But for those of us who feel it at our core, it’s a gift.
My friend & colleague reviewed the film already for the site, but I had anticipated seeing it for so long, that he encouraged me to write my thoughts down. The main reason I’d been “in” for this film for so long was because it stars Andrew Scott. I first encountered Scott as an actor in the BBC’s SHERLOCK series which ran on & off from 2010-2017. Scott played Moriarty, although he is probably best known as “Hot Priest” from the comedy series FLEABAG. I’ve had a massive crush on him for almost 14 years now; yes he’s a good-looking guy, but I’ve also been enamored with his performances and I was longing for him to be a big lead in a film that I hope connects with a large international audience.
I am not familiar with the 1987 novel STRANGERS by Taichi Yamada which the film is loosely based on. Writer/Director Andrew Haigh’s adaptation speaks to me in numerous other ways. First and foremost, as a Gen Xer, like Adam(Scott) in the film, who is seemingly stuck in life in a semi-permanent creative and social block. Both Adam and I have lost important people in our lives. People who won’t know us after the moment of their death. We long to know them again, to tell them how far we’ve come and know they’re proud of us, no matter what.
My friends will tell you I am a very social person, and they’re not wrong. But I consider myself to be somewhat of a loner. I live alone, my closest family members are thousands of miles away, I’m single, and I work from home. I’m a comfortable, but trapped 40-something who can’t seem to put the last pieces of the path in place that will allow me to exponentially move forward. To get over my grief and to let people into my life that I know will love me unconditionally and never leave.
The themes of love and loss and being held captive by our fears are just the tip of the iceberg for what I got out of ALL OF US STRANGERS. The entire film can be seen as a coming-out story, especially for those who grew up in the 80s and 90s when it was even less safe for LBGTQ+ folks than it is now. I also saw the story in another way that had me sobbing on & off for a good run of the screening.
Adam is introduced as a writer who is attempting to write a script about his parents, played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell. Paul Mescal plays his much younger neighbor Harry. To me, Harry’s character represents two parts of Adam. The first is the part that is stuck in the past, focused on an idyllic relationship that seems too good to be true, and what could have been with his family. But Adam also needs Harry to go forward, to become unstuck. Harry, as a metaphor, is what filled me with sadness. I knew for Adam to truly move on, that trauma and baggage needed to be shed.
ALL OF US STRANGERS is currently playing exclusively in theatres.
