All of Us Strangers
"Queer is polite, like all the dicks were taken out."
Introduced by the London Film Festival (LFF) Director Kristy Matheson as “the sexiest couple you will see at the festival”, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal thrill as two of the four main characters in All of Us Strangers. They are joined by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell to form the appropriately intimate cast for this second film adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s novel Strangers.
In equal parts haunting and romantic, the film, directed by Andrew Haigh, opens with a shot of the sun rising on screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott), who lives alone in a block of flats in London. We follow him as he goes about his day, performing mundane tasks and occasionally dozing off. Cut to the evening and the building’s fire alarms ring, forcing Adam to vacate the comfort of his home.
He appears intrigued by the sight of a neighbour who has blatantly ignored the alarm, silhouetted in one of the building’s windows. This exposition builds up to an eventual meet-cute between Adam and the younger man he learns is called Harry (Paul Mescal), prompting the early days of a relationship.
Alongside the couple’s blossoming romance runs alongside Adam’s regular visits to his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), who are still living in the suburban neighbourhood where he grew up. However, through the countless hours we spend with Adam as he travels back and forth on the train, there is a sense that things aren’t quite right.
Andrew Scott is ay in real life whilst Paul Mescal isn’t, but the two have amazing chemistry regardless, as does Scott with Foy and Bell. This allows Haigh to really sell the relationships as being deep and true, which is particularly important given that the film is partly inspired by Haigh’s own experience of growing up queer in the ‘70s - he even filmed scenes in his actual childhood home. He ties in the feelings of guilt and anxiety among the queer community at the time, especially due to the prevalence of AIDS. Adam’s relationship with his parents mirrors the interactions between many young people and their families who were in a similar position, with his mother showing concern, rather than anger or enthusiasm, upon learning about his new boyfriend.
All Of Us Strangers is a maze of a narrative, facilitated by impressive sound engineering, an intense score, and a knack for framing poignant shots of the characters’ emotions. Despite closing out on a nice scene of the couple, Haigh does a brilliant job of leaving the audience feeling ill at ease and uncertain about the events that took place. I would definitely recommend the watch, especially since this review doesn’t do the film justice; just be prepared to feel a little strange afterwards.
