A gay drama that combines fantasy with reality.
It would be obvious that a man reuniting with his deceased parents in his timeline would be a fantasy. It can also leave us in question that when he visits them in his old house, if there are new residents living there. If so, they would have called the police on him or told him to get out. Neither of those things happen in “All of Us Strangers,” a gay drama from writer/director Andrew Haigh, who presents this particular genre as more than meets the eye.
How do you think this movie would have been handled if it was in a mainstream manner? You know if it were a comedy or drama or a little of both? It probably would have either been charming or formulaic. In the independent circuit, it doesn’t need to resort to typical cliches or gimmicks to bring moviegoers in.
Based on Taichi Yamada’s novel, and being the second film version after the Japanese film “The Discarnates,” there’s an interesting and complex character study within the main protagonist-a screenwriter named Adam (Andrew Scott), who lives in an apartment in London, and struggles to regain his narrative. He also meets his new neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), and they become drinking buddies and lovers. Could this romance be the start of something wonderful or something dangerous or something mind-bending. It could be all of those things if the screenplay balances them.
As his romance begins, Adam’s past comes calling to him, and he returns to his suburban town, where he meets his parents (Jamie Bell and Clare Foy), who are exactly the same age as they were before they died when he was a kid. He’s at a loss of words, at first, until he’s given the chance to reconnect with them after all these years.
Adam tells his mother that he’s gay, and she presents some mixed emotions about it. And of course, she tells her husband, who knew it was inevitable, because of how Adam can throw balls. Although given Adam’s childhood time period, which I’m going to have to assume was the 80s, there are good reasons why he couldn’t come out of the closet at the time. But since their fantasy reunion takes place in the 2020s, there are hugs and tears.
In the gay love story, there’s a party sequence that goes on too long. I’m not really into partying scenes in movies, because they’re basically the same moments over and over again. With the dancing and the loud music, and the colorful ambiance. But then, the next scene features Adam helping his parents decorate their Christmas tree, which seems charming and lively. And it picks up when he sleeps with his parents in the old child tradition that they can’t sleep. It would sound weird than an adult would sleep in bed with his parents, but through Haigh’s direction, there’s more truth to it.
“All of Us Strangers” has such riveting performances from Scott, Mescal, Foy, and Bell, and they’re all drawn with complexity by Haigh. You know it’s going to be a pulsating film, especially by its poster, but you also wonder on how this fantasy will play out. And it works on spiritual and emotional levels.
Maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions on the reality and fantasy, but maybe we should acknowledge that some people long for a second chance to be with their parents. That is if they lost them at such a young age. I don’t know how or why this is happening to Adam, but I do know his reunion is adjusted well for the 2020s. Not only for him coming out of the closet for them, but also to figure out his vulnerabilities, and what makes him an adult. So, in summation, it’s basically about growing up.
In Select Theaters This Friday