'All of Us Strangers' Review: Sorrowing Andrew Scott Carries Solid and Poignant Ghost Melodrama
R: Sexual content, language, and some drug use
Runtime: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes
Production Companies: Film4, TSG Entertainment, Blueprint Pictures
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
Director: Andrew Haigh
Writer: Andrew Haigh
Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy
Release Date: December 22, 2023
Only in Theaters
Ghost stories come in many forms but often reside in the horror genre. They become innovative whenever they enter the dramatic realm. Ghost dramas are so enticing, for the storyteller forces the consumer to grapple with their mortality and embark on ethereal experiences that tackle grief, loss, love, and living. Writer/director Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers (based on the Japanese novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada) does this with a unique premise: What if your adult self, one who lived a not-quite-full life, reunited with your deceased loved ones who didn't see you grow into who you are today? It sounds like something straight out of a Pixar movie. Well, think of Pixar’s Soul, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, and David Lowery’s A Ghost Story if it were on Zoloft and poppers.
Sequestered in an empty London high-rise, a lonely middle-aged screenwriter, Adam (Andrew Scott), has a chance encounter with his charming upstairs neighbor, Harry (Paul Mescal), and a romance blossoms between them. Amidst his newfound happiness, Adam becomes drawn to his suburban childhood home miles away from the city. Upon an impromptu trip back home, Adam finds his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) living there, the same age as they were when they passed 30 years prior in a car crash when he was eleven.
Playing with the vacancy in his locations, Haigh's dreary representation of the already-dreary London setting welcomes a hooking intrigue. Any time the lonely Adam steps out of his studio apartment, there's barely any population composing the scenery—like an introvert's wettest dream. The film's ghastly atmosphere strengthens once Adam reunites with his parents at his childhood home and gets on his Sixth Sense shit. While the film balances Adam's fresh romance with his neighbor and hanging with his parents, the latter gripped me more.
There's something tragic, albeit funny, about a grown man—especially one played by Andrew Scott––reverting to his childlike self when he meets his parents, whom he lost at 11 years old, and the film's better for acknowledging it. Whenever Adam spends time with his mum and dad, Haigh's script engages in a song and dance with tone. It goes ham on its melodrama but adds sufficient natural humor to their conversations. On some occasions, there’s sincerity behind Adam's parents getting to know his older self, recognizing their mistakes from his youth, and trying to adapt to newer times—particularly his homophobic mother grappling with his sexuality and same sex marriage legislations. Then, something ridiculous, like Adam in his stretched-out pajamas wanting to sleep in his bed, is played for laughs. As you spend more time with Adam’s family, the film gradually unveils a peek into the arrested development he faced from the traumatic event, offering a heartbreaking, realistic psychological exploration of his pain.
Andrew Scott, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy's equally remarkable performances are what genuinely sell those moments. At first, Scott embracing a Jamie Bell wearing a button-up plaid tucked into his high-waisted pants, donning a Steve Harvey-like porn 'stache is a lot to digest. Then, Claire Foy enters as a typical overbearing, loving mother. The way they held onto his face, clinging to a memory of their baby boy but through a newfound lens, snatched my heart out of my chest.
Andrew Scott, already bearing the weight of illustrating familial and romantic love, channels a tender, childlike persona so instantaneously. The narrative finds Adam gradually lowering his defenses, exploring the joy and love he’d been missing. I love their tender conversations as they get to know each other better, adding warmth to Adam's loneliness. Once again, it's all in the eyes. Not to go all Fleabag, but damn, Andrew Scott's eyes evoke so much soulfulness and vulnerability.
Through Adam's characterization, Andrew Haigh constructs an enticing study of a stunted, lonely soul, which Scott projects beautifully. When romance comes knocking at Adam's door, Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal's lovers share solid romantic chemistry.
All of Us Stranger's ensemble cast controls the ship's weight, where characterization in Haigh's screenplay falls short. Excluding Adam, all the characters are dimensionless. His parents are particularly one-note, as typically lovey-dovey as a ‘90s kids sitcom pair of parents. The dad is loving and full of masculine energy, which you can tell by his attire, and his mom is overbearing, making little witty comments. Plus, they're British. Even when the mom's homophobic nature revives alongside her, it's resolved fairly quickly. The camaraderie they share is rousing, and that's to the strength of the cast rather than the writing. They're as Disneyfied as parents come, which is fitting since this is a Disney-distributed movie, and dead parents are their specialty.
While I respect the thematic emotions Haigh plays with, I found many scenes between Adam and his parents repetitious. Many of Adam's visits have him recollecting memories in heavy bouts of dialogue that often took me out. Sometimes, the scenarios differ in the sense that he'd spend time with either his mum or dad rather than both of them together, but they'd still bring up old memories of the lives they lived. For a film about facing past traumas, the characters marinate in it too much.
While it’s cool to see Paul Mescal put that mack on anyone, Harry and Adam's relationship felt weak in the writing department. That feels wrong to say since—via his previous works like Looking and Weekend—Haigh shines in crafting homosexual romances. However, with Harry, the hot neighbor next door, he suffers from Mescal Pixie Dream Boy energy. He enters Adam's life, coming on strong flirtatiously, and remains there for the most part. Despite their adorable chemistry, Harry's blandness hollowed those great bouts between the actors.
You’ll either love the film's finale or resent the sour taste it leaves in your mouth. For me, it was the latter as Haigh delivers a one-two punch of tragedy that doesn't leave any airtime for you to breathe and internalize one heartbreaking emotional beat before the other one arrives.
Andrew Haigh's ghastly All of Us Strangers is a solid melodrama held by its mighty ensemble carried by Andrew Scott's incredible performance.
