ALL OF US STRANGERS

Adam (Andrew Scott), a screenwriter in London, lives alone in an almost empty new tower block. One evening his neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal) rings the doorbell, and the encounter grows into love. At the same time, Adam drives out to the suburb of his childhood – and finds his parents there (Claire Foy, Jamie Bell), just as they were when they died. He talks to them about what was left unsaid back then: about being gay, about the loneliness of his childhood. “All of Us Strangers” by Andrew Haigh, a British film from 2023, lets both movements run into one another: the one forward to Harry, and the one back to a house that should no longer exist.

The Briton Andrew Haigh freely adapted the novel “Strangers” (1987) by the Japanese writer Taichi Yamada, replacing the book’s couple with two men; he shot partly in his own childhood home near London. Ghost story, mourning and a love story in a minor key intertwine. It premiered in Telluride in August 2023; it won seven prizes at the British Independent Film Awards, including best film, direction and screenplay, plus six BAFTA nominations. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2023 as the Closing Night.

Shown at the 2023 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2023 · Film Archive