All of Us Strangers

All of Us Strangers is a 2023 British romantic fantasy film written and directed by Andrew Haigh, and loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The film stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy. It is the second film adaptation of the novel, after the 1988 Japanese film The Discarnates directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi.
All of Us Strangers premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 31 August 2023, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2024, by Searchlight Pictures.
Premise
One night in his near-empty tower block in London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.
Cast
Andrew Scott as Adam
Carter John Grout as young Adam
Paul Mescal as Harry
Jamie Bell as Adam's father
Claire Foy as Adam's mother
Ami Tredrea as Waitress
Production
Graham Broadbent and Sarah Harvey of Blueprint Pictures first pitched the project to Yamada in June 2017. Later that year, Haigh and Film4 Productions came on board. Haigh described his adaptation of the novel as "a long and sometimes painful process". He said, "I wanted to pick away at my own past as Adam does in the film. I was interested in exploring the complexities of both familial and romantic love, but also the distinct experience of a specific generation of gay people growing up in the 80s. I wanted to move away from the traditional ghost story of the novel and find something more psychological, almost metaphysical."
On 30 June 2022, the film, then known as Strangers, and the principal cast were announced. The announced plot was brief and vaguely worded, and attracted inquiries on social media as to whether the film involved a romance between Scott and Mescal's characters.
Filming was in progress in the United Kingdom when the announcement was made. Haigh's childhood home served as the filming location for the house in which Adam finds his parents. Nightclub sequences were shot on location at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
Release
The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 31 August 2023, and played at the 2023 New York Film Festival on 1 October 2023. It also made it to the main competition of the 68th Valladolid International Film Festival. It is scheduled to be released by Searchlight Pictures in the United States on 22 December 2023 and in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2024.
Reception
Accolades
References
External links
2023 films
2023 fantasy films
2023 LGBT-related films
2023 romance films
2020s British films
2020s English-language films
2020s romantic fantasy films
British LGBT-related films
British romantic fantasy films
Gay-related films
Film4 Productions films
Films based on Japanese novels
Films directed by Andrew Haigh
Films set in London
Films shot in London
LGBT-related fantasy films
LGBT-related romance films
Searchlight Pictures films