All of Us Strangers

I believe that I will never recover from the intense evocation of haunting experienced whilst watching All of Us Strangers, a supernatural picture written and directed by Andrew Haigh, based on a Japanese ghost story novel by Taichi Yamada. Andrew Scott plays screenwriter Adam who is wrestling with a script based on his own past. As a research tool, he visits his childhood home where his parents, who died in a car crash when he was only twelve years old, are now present exactly as they were all those years ago, which is around the same age as Adam himself is now. Simultaneously, he begins a relationship with Harry, played by Paul Mescal, a man who lives in the same London luxury apartment block as him, a relationship which grounds Adam, and the film, in the present day as he time travels to and from the past visiting his parents.

Adam and his parents converse with ease despite the strangeness of the predicament. However, it becomes clear that the situation is untenable - Adam cannot continue to occupy both worlds - he must confront his grief, acknowledge the horror of his parents’ absence, in order for his life with Harry to move forwards in the present tense. This is the crux of the film: Adam represents the inclination that lives within each and every one of use to bathe in the past, to be enchanted by its comfort and unchangingness. However, a permanent residency in the past is impossibly unhealthy. The scenes where Adam tries to confront his parents about issues such as his sexuality and childhood bullying are heart-breaking, but ultimately, cathartic. They all seem to be at peace with one another, they love and understand each other, until Adam eventually, is denied access to the past and is wrenched into his present life where Harry is troubled and needs Adam’s love and attention.

Ultimately, the film has the capacity to chime with audiences on many levels, depending on their own personal experiences which they bring to the movie. The intensity is visceral, and the sense of the unheimlich will linger long after you leave the cinema.