ALL OF US STRANGERS

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From the trailer and the poster, not to mention the casting (Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal - wow!) I had assumed that this film would be about the relationship between the two leads.

I was therefore surprised that the main emotional impact for me derived instead from the relationship between Andrew Scott's character Adam and the ghosts of his dead parents.  The final scene between the three of them really set me off.  Maybe that's because both my parents are no longer with me.  Hats off to Claire Foy and Jamie Bell for their beautifully understated performances throughout.

In comparison I found the relationship between Adam and Harry (Mescal) touching, but no more than that.  Which is not to take anything away from their performances, which are top-notch.  Andrew Scott in particular (who I think is in every scene) carries the film.  He is so good at conveying vulnerability.  (Maybe that is why I was less taken with him as Ripley in the recent Netflix adaptation).

There is so much to admire in this film besides the performances. The direction is nicely lowkey for the main part, and Andrew Haigh is happy to give the actors long scenes. The score and cinematography add to the intense and hermetic atmosphere.

The final image combined with the choice of music brings it all to an emotionally satisfying climax.

Well, almost, because I must confess I had a bit of a problem with the final scenes.

Basically I didn't totally buy the twist (spoiler alert) that the scenes with Harry are also a fantasy.  I could believe that Adam and Harry's conversation at the beginning triggers not only some fantasies in Adam's mind about Harry, but also some coming to terms with his parents' deaths.

But I felt that Harry being dead was overegging things a bit.  At the risk of nit-picking, how exactly did Harry die anyway, given that he's presumably a healthy young man?  

So although I don't want an artificial feel-good ending, here I would have had no problem with the final scene being Harry opening his door to find Adam there, wanting to kick start their relationship.

RATING: ✓✓ Good Times

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