4.5/5 stars
A poignant film about parents and partners, Andrew Haigh’s All of us Strangers is the most accomplished work of his career so far.
The British director behind Weekend and 45 Years has already proved himself competent in showing the foibles of human relationships, but this London-set drama of isolation is a huge step upwards. Like the high-rise apartment block that Andrew Scott’s character exists in, this film towers over most others this year.
Scott plays Adam, a television screenwriter who lives alone in a newly occupied block. The only other tenant is Harry (Paul Mescal), who makes his presence known one night when he turns up at his door, suggesting they get a drink.
Adam resists, but it’s not long before they fall into each other’s arms. Both single and gay, they are alone and troubled in different ways – in Adam’s case, he is haunted by the death of his parents when he was a child.
It’s here where Haigh takes the film’s greatest risk, as Adam is compelled to revisit the suburban home where he grew up. And it’s here where he encounters his parents, ghosts who are very much as he remembers them from the 1980s.
At first, it seems like he is the much-missed son returning, as his proud mum (Claire Foy) and dad (Jamie Bell) catch up on all his news. But gradually, he has to embrace more uncomfortable topics, such as his sexuality and their mortality.
Haigh mines wry humour from the outdated ’80s attitudes expressed by Adam’s parents, and there are some sweet moments – not least the sight of Scott in child’s pyjamas.
But All of Us Strangers becomes an increasingly devastating experience in the final act. Rarely has a soundtrack choice been more effective than Haigh’s use of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood song “The Power of Love”, which becomes the perfect anthem for his film.
Of course all eyes are on Normal People star Mescal, and once again he is very good – a beguiling combination of warmth and sadness. Bell and Foy also navigate their tricky roles too, but really, this is Scott’s film.
Currently ripping up small screens in Netflix’s Ripley, the actor has never been better than he is here. It’s a commanding, emotionally rich performance in a film that dares to explore love and loneliness at their most raw.
Don’t think of this as a ghost story so much as a heart-shattering melodrama of the mind.
All of Us Strangers is streaming on Disney+.