Andrew Haigh’s mysterious, beautiful and sentimental film is a fantasy-supernatural romance about loneliness and love. It concerns the climacteric of middle age when you realise you are probably nearer to death than birth, there is no guarantee that you will live your life inside a relationship and your parents were ordinary, vulnerable people – just like you.
Haigh’s adaptation of the novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada, titled All of Us Strangers, may deviate from the unsettling tone of the original Japanese version and instead lean towards a bittersweet atmosphere. However, it still maintains its sense of eeriness and strangeness, while also revealing something subtly profound in these elements. The Japanese version has already been made into a film, and the English translation was done by Wayne Lammers.
Adam, a writer struggling with depression, is working on a script based on his relationship with his deceased parents. He spends his days in a daze, neglecting his work and indulging in activities such as watching TV and eating biscuits. He often reflects on his childhood through old photos and listens to music from that time, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s The Power of Love. Living alone in a modern high-rise in London, he believes he is the only resident, until he notices another man, Harry. Unlike Adam, Harry is outgoing and enjoys drinking. The alcohol gives him the courage to approach Adam.
As Adam’s complicated relationship is starting to blossom, he impulsively decides to visit his childhood neighborhood in Croydon. To his surprise, he discovers that his parents, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, are still alive and living in their old house from the 1980s. They have not aged and welcome him with a casual and amused attitude, as if he had just returned from university and needed help with his laundry. This is not a figment of Adam’s imagination; he is now the same age his parents were when they passed away, and the universe has granted him the chance to have a grown-up conversation with them about his life, his sexuality, and his new relationship.
All of Us Strangers, with its English charm, reminded me of Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time and Will Self’s The North London Book of the Dead. In Self’s novel How the Dead Live, it is revealed that deceased individuals go to reside in dull suburbs. In All of Us Strangers, the protagonist Adam has a conversation with his mother, who has passed away and now lives in a flat in Crouch End. When she notices how much Adam resembles her father, it becomes clear that she is not just a figment of his imagination. This encounter is reminiscent of Marty McFly’s encounter with his mother in Back to the Future, but with more serious implications.
His parents do not express anger towards his sexuality, nor do they make any display of being unimpressed, surprised, or nonchalant about it. They do not engage in the traditional act of reminiscing about their child’s early years, as some parents do in both art and life, with varying degrees of sincerity. His father wryly mentions his lack of athletic ability, while his mother expresses concern about his chosen path of a potentially “lonely” or “childless” lifestyle, possibly unaware of the legal and cultural changes that have occurred since her passing. The film also includes comedic and whimsical scenes, such as Adam climbing into bed with his parents while wearing an oversized version of his childhood pajamas. The actors, Bell, Foy, and Scott, play the scene with such seriousness that it does not come across as silly.
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The relationship between Adam and Harry remains promising, with thought-provoking conversations about the evolution of language and the replacement of “gay” with “queer”. Harry believes that the term “gay” lost its credibility due to being used as a form of bullying in school, such as labeling something or someone as a “gay bike” or having a “gay haircut”. There may be differing opinions on the final scene of the film, whether it veers too far into a familiar genre and if the emotional investment in previous scenes was a misdirection. However, the performances from all four actors are exceptional and director Haigh successfully combines themes of romantic and intergenerational relationships seen in his previous works, Weekend and 45 Years.
Adam experiences a tense moment as he strolls through a park and spots another man who nods towards a cluster of trees in the distance. Curious, Adam follows, but the outcome is not what we expect. The movie is highly gratifying and emotionally impactful.
Source: theguardian.com
