Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal both deliver stellar performances with a sensitive and beautiful depiction of newfound love and unresolved trauma.
Andrew Scott portrays the character of Adam, a gay middle-aged screenwriter battling with writing a script influenced from his own past. Despite desperately trying to surround himself with memories of childhood, by playing iconic 80’s pop songs and rummaging through a box of family treasures, he still feels disconnected from his younger years. Adam then meets one of his few neighbors, the captivating Harry, played by the man of the moment Paul Mescal, and a relationship between them begins.
The film then follows Adam as he embarks on a research trip back to his childhood home in South London where he encounters his dead parents who appear unchanged from the day they passed 30 years ago, when Adam was a child.
Adam’s parents are loving but not enough to recognise how much their prejudices harm their son in the present as well as the future.
The screenplay Adam is attempting to write is set in 1987, the year that Section 28 was introduced, banning the promotion of homosexuality amidst the AID’s crisis in which the British press demonized being gay.
This picture is extremely well-crafted, full of rich cinematography with an excellent soundtrack.
The film was adapted from Taichi Yamada’s Japanese novel ‘Strangers’ (1987) however, Haigh incorporated his own style on the book by referencing British queer culture and even by using his actual childhood home for the scenes with Adam and his parents.
All of us Strangers is in cinemas now and will be available to watch on Hulu on February the 22nd.
There is no doubt that this film will pull aggressively at your heartstrings and leave you emotionally shattered but it is a must watch film nevertheless, that explores a range of important themes.
Image credits: Searchlight Pictures
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