I finally watched Andrew Haigh’s new acclaimed film. Here’s my experience.
Filmmaker Andrew Haigh has made himself known for his devastating stories about relationships. His most recent film is another gloomy story about a gay couple, as seen in one of his previous feature-length titles, Weekend. In All Of Us Strangers, a man deals with his complicated relationship with his parents and his love life in a surreal and mournful manner.
What I loved the most about this movie (in addition to the beautiful color palette) is that this one will be watched more than once. Again, not only for its beauty. But because it’s all in the details. There is a reason why Paul Mescal mysteriously creeps drunk in Andrew Scott’s with a half-empty liquor bottle in his hands. It’s a broken man, and we see the consequences in the end. There’s a reason behind his question; “How do you cope?” And that’s where things get started for Scott’s Adam.
This is why it felt personal.
For Adam, getting started means getting to the heart of his loneliness and moodiness. His parents. And that’s where I started feeling related to this character, his memories, and his place in the world. Regardless of me being a straight man, there’s still something relatable to Adam’s relationship with his parents. Perhaps because I am around the same age as the character, or because my parents divorced and I eventually moved in with my grandparents, represents the same feeling of loneliness and isolation from Adam’s point of view.
One of the most significant scenes in the movie revolves around a conversation with his mother. Even though I did not have any “getting out of the closet” conversations, it still reminds me of difficult conversations I had with my mother. Moments in life that flash before my eyes like in Adam’s. This is not an easy watch for people with parent issues.
After all, it is about a man’s grievances. He was an out-of-step with the world screenwriter who lost a lot. It reflects our time on Earth and our relationship with the people we love. After all, we can be strangers to those close to us, even to ourselves.
Also, not everything in this film was sad. Paul Mescal’s dancing is always a charming sequence.
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