All of Us Strangers (2023)

All of Us Strangers is a 2023 British romantic fantasy film written and directed by Andrew Haigh, and loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. It stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy. The second feature adaptation of the novel, after the Japanese film The Discarnates (1988), the film follows a lonely screenwriter who develops an intimate relationship with his mysterious neighbour while revisiting memories from the past.

All of Us Strangers premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 31 August 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom by Searchlight Pictures on 26 January 2024. It received critical acclaim, was named one of the top ten independent films of 2023 by the National Board of Review, and earned six BAFTA Award nominations. The film was also named Film of the Year and LGBTQ Film of the Year by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (Dorian Awards).

Plot

Lonely television screenwriter Adam lives a secluded life in London. At his tower block, he meets his drunk neighbour Harry, who wants to join him for the night. Reluctantly, Adam declines and sends Harry away. Adam visits his suburban childhood home, now unoccupied. He encounters his parents, who died in a car accident decades earlier just before he turned twelve, and appear as they did at the age they died. Adam has dinner with them and promises to visit again.

Returning to his flat, Adam encounters Harry by the lift, and reciprocates Harry's interest. They develop feelings for each other. Harry confides how distant he feels from his own family, and Adam opens up about the loss of his parents. Adam has several meetings with his parents. During a talk with his mother, Adam reveals his homosexuality, which she accepts despite her concern and slight discomfort. On a later visit with his father, Adam discusses being hurt by his silence about the bullying Adam experienced as a child. The two reconcile.

As Adam and Harry's relationship flourishes, the two go clubbing and take ketamine. Adam admits it is his first time while Harry implies he is a frequent user. During the trip, Adam finds himself in his childhood bed at Christmas. He and his parents hang lights on the Christmas tree and celebrate happily. Unable to sleep, Adam gets in bed with his parents and tells his mother about being sent to stay with his grandmother after her death, which his mother laments.

Harry suddenly appears next to Adam, who then finds himself on a London Underground train, seeing Harry in various places on the train and station, before seeing a distorted reflection of his younger self screaming before he wakes up in his flat. Harry tells him he brought him home after Adam acted strangely. Adam discusses the details of his parents' death, revealing that his father died instantly, but his mother, who lost an eye in the crash, lingered for three days in the hospital. His grandmother kept Adam from seeing his mother due to her dire condition, which has haunted him.

Adam takes Harry to his parents' house to meet them – not telling Harry where they are or why. Adam finds that his parents are not present, even after yelling and banging on the doors and windows. Growing concerned for Adam, Harry demands Adam tell him where they are. Harry urges them to leave, just as they both see a faint image of Adam's mother through a window. Horrified and confused, Harry steps back as Adam pounds on the door, breaking a window.

Waking up the next morning with his parents, they explain that Harry went home. They tell Adam that in order for him to find happiness, he must let them go and move forward in his life with Harry. They take him to his favourite childhood restaurant, where they ask if their deaths were quick and painless. Adam claims they both died instantly, a particular relief to his mother. The three reaffirm their love for each other, after which Adam's parents vanish.

Having accepted the loss of his parents, Adam goes home to see Harry. Entering Harry's flat, he notices an awful stench, with ketamine residue on a table and squalor throughout the flat. Adam finds Harry dead in the bedroom, holding the same whisky bottle he was drinking from the night they met. Adam realizes that Harry overdosed on the night that Adam thwarted his advances.

In the kitchen Adam finds Harry, holding the whisky bottle and in his corpse's clothes. Distraught and embarrassed, Harry wonders why no one has found his body, and Adam reminds him that he has. Adam assures Harry that everything will be all right, and takes Harry back to his flat. The two lie in bed together. When Harry asks Adam to play a record, Adam remembers the lyrics Harry sang to him the first night they met in the doorway. He starts to sing "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Harry relaxes as Adam continues to stroke his hair and whisper the song into his ear.

Cast

Andrew Scott as Adam

Carter John Grout as young Adam

Paul Mescal as Harry

Jamie Bell as Adam's father

Claire Foy as Adam's mother

Production

Graham Broadbent and Sarah Harvey of Blueprint Pictures first pitched the project to Yamada in June 2017. Later that year, Haigh and Film4 Productions came on board. Haigh described his adaptation of the novel as "a long and sometimes painful process". He said, "I wanted to pick away at my own past as Adam does in the film. I was interested in exploring the complexities of both familial and romantic love, but also the distinct experience of a specific generation of gay people growing up in the 80s. I wanted to move away from the traditional ghost story of the novel and find something more psychological, almost metaphysical."

On 30 June 2022, the film, then known as Strangers, and the principal cast were announced. The announced plot was brief and vaguely worded, and attracted inquiries on social media as to whether the film involved a romance between Scott and Mescal's characters.

Filming was in progress in the United Kingdom when the announcement was made. Haigh's childhood home served as the filming location for the house in which Adam finds his parents. Nightclub sequences were shot on location at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

Music

The film score was composed by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. The film soundtrack also featured many 1980's pop songs, including several by gay artists (Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys). The featured songs include:

"The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984). In addition to this song being played, its lyrics are both spoken and sung by various characters during the film.

"She Who Dares" by Colman Brothers (2007)

"Johnny Come Home" by Fine Young Cannibals (1985)

"Is This Love?" by Alison Moyet (1986)

"Build" by The Housemartins (1987)

"I Want a Dog (2018 Remaster)" by Pet Shop Boys (1988)

"Death of a Party (12" Death/Death of a Party)" by Blur (1997)

"I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" by The Ink Spots (1941)

"Promised Land" by Joe Smooth (1987)

"Always on My Mind" by Pet Shop Boys (1987)

"If I Could See the World (Through the Eyes of a Child)" by Patsy Cline (1958)

Additionally, in a scene set in Adam's childhood bedroom, he looks at vinyl albums The Circus by Erasure (1987) and Welcome to the Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984). Both bands had openly gay members.

Release

The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 31 August 2023, and played at the 2023 New York Film Festival on 1 October 2023. It also made it to the main competition of the 68th Valladolid International Film Festival. The Cork International Film Festival chose the film as its International Gala film, acting as the Irish premiere, on 19 November 2023. The QCinema International Film Festival hosted three screenings of the film on 19, 20, and 24 November 2023. It began a limited release in the United States on 22 December 2023 and was released in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2024.

Reception

Box office

In its limited opening weekend, the film made $232,909 from four theatres, a per-venue average of $58,000.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 275 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "All of Us Strangers examines profound grief and love through a fantastical lens that is always grounded on human emotion." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Filmmaker Edgar Wright praised the film, saying "I am in awe of what Andrew [Haigh] managed to do in this film. It's a true testament to his artistry that he was able to make a film so personal, emotional and resonant, yet also so satisfying within its place in a genre. Though a traditional ghost story might end on a note of sadness or shock, the fact that Andrew is able to leave us with a moment of infinite beauty is to be cherished."

In December 2024, Collider ranked the film at number 4 on its list of the "10 Best Fantasy Movies of the 2020s", with Robert Lee III writing that it "has a lot of different moving parts that all seamlessly come together to make for an emotional rollercoaster of tear-jerker moments. From its exploration of the isolation and self-doubt that grief and pain place upon us to the inherent genius of a premise that allows Adam to come out to his parents after a lifetime of never believing he'd get the chance. It's a work of art that can be interpreted in a multitude of different ways, which is one of the greatest strengths that this type of mature fantasy drama can provide."

In July 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 247.

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

All of Us Strangers at IMDb

All of Us Strangers at Rotten Tomatoes

All of Us Strangers at Metacritic