Film Review: All Of Us Strangers, a love story told by Paul Mescal & Andrew Scott
What’s All Of Us Strangers about?
In a desolate spot of London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has an encounter with his illusive neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal) which begins to impact his entire perspective on life. A Romantic relationship develops between the two however, Adam is met with recurring memories of his past drawing him back to the town and childhood home he grew up in, here his parents appear to still live there, as they were on the day they died, 30 years prior.
Director Andrew Haigh on his perspective of All Of Us Strangers
Haigh describes the film as a ‘spectral meditation on love and loneliness, and a deeply personal film, one infused with his own feelings about childhood, parents and relationships’ with Variety Fair (2023). This is evident in Haigh’s decision to use his childhome home as a set to build what I’d describe as an almost liminal feeling to significant moments in the film, highlighting the nostalgic undertones present throughout certain scenes. According to Haigh, not long before production began, he visited his childhood house, lived in by him and his family up until the age of around seven years old, finding that almost nothing had really changed.
“The owner agreed to let us film there, he hadn’t really decorated it in 30 years, so all these memories came flooding back. And then we used my old photos to make it look almost exactly as it had. It was so emotional for me, but it was also cathartic. It was a chance to re-approach my past.” — Haigh, A.
Paul Mescal takes on another ambitiously new film plot to his career
After the latest release starring Paul Mescal & Saoirse Ronan, FOE (2023) a dystopian, sci-fi infused drama, the decision to star alongside beloved actor Andrew Scott in a queer love story riddled with love, loss and anything else one experiences in-between, is an incredible deviation to his breakout role as Connell in the television adaptation of best selling novel normal people. However, according to director Andrew Haigh, he states the chemistry both between Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal was instantaneous on set and was a very easy choice when it came down to casting a film that requires a huge level of vulnerability, passion, understanding and honesty in its portrayal.
“There was chemistry between the two of them literally the second I saw them together,” Haigh said in an interview with Vanity Fair. And in terms of the sex scenes, “Both of them were pretty fearless. There was no sense of them being afraid of approaching those scenes. They knew how important they were.”
Andrew Scott, our Fleabag priest blesses us with his performance
What brought immediate attention to this film was undoubtedly the belief in Andrew Scott’s ability to understand and portray the complex nuances of falling in love, sexuality alongside nostalgia-driven grief. We’ve seen actor Andrew Scott’s diverse acting range in just one television series alone being the iconic Fleabag (2016–2019), co-starring as the love interest to writer and lead actress Phoebe-Wallace Bridgers as a priest with wit and his own vices.
Don’t have any interesting plans Christmas? Not to worry…
All of Us Strangers is set to be released in December 22nd, so prepare yourself for the influx of those who’ll also be spending their holiday season booking out cinema’s to be the first to witness what I predict to be a cult-classic that will impact the stories told in films to come in the next decade.
Want to keep up with the latest news on All Of Us Strangers? head to my socials where frequent unreleased and exclusive updates fill your feed at @b.fernandez_blog on Instagram, @bfernandez_blog on Twitter/X now!
