Release Date – 26th January 2024, Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 45 minutes, Director – Andrew Haigh
Struggling to write a script and potentially entering into a relationship with a neighbour (Paul Mescal), Adam (Andrew Scott) finds himself exploring what life would be like if his parents (Claire Foy, Jamie Bell) hadn’t passed away thirty years before.
The new block of flats that screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) lives in is almost entirely empty. The modern design somehow emphasises his isolation when he occasionally leaves his flat to wander the corridors or visit his parents. With each visit he’s greeted with warm smiles and welcoming hugs, a loving embrace from both mum (Claire Foy) and dad (Jamie Bell). In terms of real life ages Scott is older than both Foy and Bell, the seeming closeness of their characters’ ages is addressed later on when it’s revealed that Adam’s parents passed away thirty years before. He’s using their lives as inspiration for a screenplay he’s struggling to write, however the real reason may be closer to him simply confronting his long-lingering grief.
As he looks back on the past things begin to move forward with the only other person in his building, Harry (Paul Mescal). The two engage in simple back-and-forths to start with, clear interest shown between the pair towards the other, and overtime a relationship potential rears its head around the corner. Throughout the various conversations which make up the film very little is said, there’s plenty of breaks and silence capturing thought and hesitancy – “I play music, but it’s worse when it ends” Adam says about the quietness where he lives – characters say what they need to say and little else.
What’s said is frequently personal for the central character. Considered and believable conversations with his parents where he reverts back to his childhood state while still coming across as his adult self. The quietness is given time and space to settle in and have as much effect as possible, heightened by a set of great performances to boost the emotional core. Adam is trying to move ahead, but finds it difficult to do so as he continues to delve into the ‘what could have been’ of the past. While emotional at their core there’s a warmth to his interactions with his parents, and occasional humour. A scene involving him coming out to his mum is full of well-handled tonal changes as he tries to catch her up on the changes, and proved falsehoods, since the 80s.
Throughout Scott dives into the phrase “I’ve always said that writers know less about the real world than anyone else” as his potential fantasies make for a safe comfort, while the real world and his interactions with Harry, particularly a sequence in a night club, have their fair share of worry and uncertainty from Adam. Will he mess things up? Where will they go? Such thoughts are well combatted by Mescal’s more outgoing, highly flirtatious turn. One particular sequence set to Blur’s Death Of The Party particularly stands out for its effect – the soundtrack as a whole adds a good deal to the film.
Andrew Haigh brings a tenderness to the film through his direction, having also written the screenplay adapted from Taichi Yamada’s novel Strangers. Quiet, calm and thoughtful it injects feeling into the deeply personal set of events that Andrew Scott’s character goes through. The heart helps to power where the journey ends up going, and the confrontations and understandings he makes with his own grief. It invites us in and makes for a stronger connection with the characters as they interact with Adam, exploring his held-in emotions, potentially coming through in full if the events with his parents take place in his mind – the workings of that are up to the viewer. The worlds blend and work together to make for an emotionally intelligent and thoughtful drama.
Full of brilliantly performed personal conversations All Of Us Strangers emphasises thought and quietness in the emotional journey of Andrew Scott’s central figure, making for a tender portrait of stagnant grief and hesitant emotions.
Just A Little Bit Random 