All of Us Strangers (2023)

Director: Andrew Haigh

Starring: Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell

Primary genre: Romance

Secondary genre: Fantasy

Third genre: Drama

With such a strong word of mouth, support and critical accolades, you would have expected “All of Us Strangers” to be the next “Citizen Kane” (1941). Despite its many positives though, “All of Us Strangers” includes a few hiccups which prevent it from becoming an all time classic. This could be partially blamed on its source material - Taichi Yamada’s novel - whose sensibilities might be more appropriate for the cultural norms of the (then) 80s Japanese society.

Notwithstanding this, director and screenwriter Andrew Haigh creates successfully an engaging tale for about 2/3s of the running time occasionally causing some teary eyes. Swinging between a blossoming romance and a supernatural drama, Haigh manages to keep the interest up until these separately introduced elements begin to blend together. The end result becomes almost schizophrenic highlighting a motion picture that struggles to present an ultimate goal veering into melodramatic territory. Haigh’s script seems uncertain about the conclusion and as proceedings continue to develop, more questions are raised in what could have been a straightforward and deeply moving story.

This character like study is being told from Adam’s perspective (who could be an unreliable narrator himself), yet it does not give the audience any room to understand who Adam is. Adam’s traits never come forward - what is the point of him being a screenwriter and living in a newly constructed apartment complex in London? - leaving us either with a blossoming neighbour romance (done 90% right) or his metaphysical interactions with his dead parents. Haigh’s explores esoterically themes of grief, inability to move on and to open up similarly to what Sofia Coppola did in “Lost in Translation” (2003) and Kogonada in “Columbus” (2017). Introverted and especially, stoic viewers might find resonance to Adam’s decisions and general life approach. This protagonist does not whine or gets angry; he is simply an individual who lost his appetite for anything life related whether it is sex, music or food. He is an isolated prince in his high rise building overlooking others as they come and go. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s hypnotic soundscape is the perfect tool to elucidate the bittersweet sentiments of someone’s social isolation, reawakening and self-discovery in the face of a new and unexpected love.

Haigh does capture wonderful moments throughout and it is hard not to feel sympathy for Andrew Scott’s portrayal of Adam; the role is like an extension of the (openly gay) actor who gives an honest and outstanding performance of a person crippled by unprocessed grief. Scott is the heart of the film giving giving a career high performance as the well-behaved externally but deeply tormented screenwriter. Adam has a lonely (and lovely) sweetness that is so much missing from modern day (and particularly from LGBT) romances giving his Adam a living and breathing status as opposed to be presented as a glorified stereotype.

The rest of the small cast are fine; Jamie Bell continues to impress with his roles and it is a shame that his Hollywood career did not involve any thematically strong work while Claire Foy is always reliable excluding her 80s mom stereotype in one of the most supposedly heartfelt scenes. Complementing the quadrant is Paul Mescal in a small but crucial role as Harry although there is not much development to this character who could have been used as the catalyst for Adam in a cathartic finale instead of a melodramatic and muddy one.

If we can get passed some (by 2023) fairly standard coming-out moments and discussions along with the multiple (and illogical) questions raised in the end, “All of Us Strangers” offers plenty of outstanding direction, and impeccable cinematography. Jamie D. Ramsay’s lens give the movie a unique look, each shot of Haigh’s is precisely crafted and visually exciting making this motion picture the contender for 2023’s most beautiful cinematography (the other is Dan Laustsen’s work in “John Wick Chapter 4”).

“All of Us Strangers” is occasionally a great film. It takes its subject matter seriously and avoids to walk a road of campiness. However, the decision to split its running time across separate themes brings it down a notch as none are given enough space to breathe considering that individually, its ideas are pretty compelling.

Beautiful yet melodramatic supernatural romance

+Breathtaking cinematography

+Beautifully scored

+Scott is outstanding

+Lovely directed

+Intimate, almost authentic portrayal

-Veers towards melodrama

-Raises more questions than answers

-Schizophrenic story split