All of Us Strangers

All of Us Strangers is a film I've been wanting to catch for a while as it was difficult to find in Denver near the end of last year and I couldn't make the time once it spread wider in January. 

I'd heard incredible things about the film whose trailer, admittedly, did little to interest me in the thick of a busy movie season. Luckily, it became available for streaming this weekend (Hulu), so I'm able to add it to my 2024 watched list via some catch-up. 

While I liked the film a lot - there's much to praise - I'm definitely not as high on it as I've seen many others. With a film like All of Us Strangers, I think that's purely based on how people interact with the film's heavy themes and how it speaks to them. I can certainly see how it could be considered a monumental film if it really connects. 

This is a story about trauma and grief as our main character, Adam (Andrew Scott) interacts with it in his lonely adult life. His parents were killed in a car accident when he was younger, but he begins seeing realistic visions of them, able to speak with each and tell them what he has always wanted to, including the fact that he is gay. Around the same time, a neighbor, Harry (Paul Mescal) comes to Adam's door - also lonely - and looking for company. As Adam tends to conversations with his parents, he and Harry's romance blossoms. As the movie wraps up, with a fairly devastating finale, it leaves ambiguity on the table that is probably the part I enjoyed most and will come back to when I think of it. It's a emotionally heavy film and yet one where I'm not sure I quite have all the answers due to the obviously-strange nature of Adam's visions of his parents. 

The film's writing is special while the technical components also shine, without being overdone. The focus is the story and Adam and Harry and the film rarely shies away from that. It searches for a better original score that could have really elevated it (and I wonder if this is my personal reason for disconnecting with it less), but otherwise it's a well made movie. 

All of Us Strangers is not a film you should enter into lightly, it'll pack an emotional punch with almost anybody, but the journey is worth it if not for the mysteries of this plot, but perhaps to help the audience with any grief they may be dealing with as well. 

Rapid Rath's Review Score | 8/10