The genres? Fantasy and love story. The flavor? Bittersweet. The effect? A big smile and a few tears. This list of ingredients makes for an absolutely fantastically beautiful movie.
Fantasy can transport us to unique, strange and completely unexpected worlds. But it can also bring us closer to our own world in a whole new way. It can be a colorful lens through which we can take a closer look at our everyday human problems and perhaps even learn to solve them.
This is precisely why fantastic elements are an excellent way of dealing with difficult topics such as loss, grief or coming to terms with one’s own identity. Add to this the stunning on-screen duo of Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal and you have perhaps one of the most touching fantasy films of the year.
A mixture of melancholy time travel, a tender love story and surreal elements make All of Us Strangers a beautiful mixture to weep over. You can now stream it on Disney+ shortly after its cinema release.
In All of Us Strangers, an ordinary love story becomes an emotional puzzle
Adam (Andrew Scott) has made himself at home in his loneliness. Literally, in fact, because there aren’t many other people living in the tower block where he has his home. One of these few strangers, however, is Harry (Paul Mescal), who at some point tentatively approaches Adam. The first spark is ignited and the two find themselves in the beginnings of a relationship.
(All of Us Strangers)
As exciting as all the new things are, Adam is repeatedly caught up in his past and secretly continues to cling to being alone. Adam lost his parents when he was less than twelve years old. He wants to write about it, he admits to Harry. And thanks to him, he finally finds the courage to try. To do so, he visits his family’s old house.
When he enters, his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) greet him as if nothing had happened – apparently still the same age Adam was when he knew them as a child. And while Adam is still trying to understand what is happening here, he suddenly finds a new closeness to his family. He says things he has always wanted to say. And begins to solve not only the mystery surrounding his parents, but also his own feelings.
All of Us Strangers uses fantasy to tell a tear-jerkingly beautiful story
As supernatural as the encounters with Adam’s parents may seem, they are above all an immersion into the depths of his fears, desires and longings. With infinite feeling, he is finally allowed to negotiate who he really is. How his identity can fit into this family in which he has often felt alienated. How he can actually open up to his parents and make himself vulnerable.
(All of Us Strangers)
This bizarre form of time travel sets Adam on a path that, with a bit of luck, can lead him closer to himself and Harry. And despite the fantastical elements, all the themes are so infinitely human, so approachable, that everyone can empathize – and cry along with him. Because the movie gets under your skin in a sad and beautiful way in its treatment of pain, grief, but also hope and vitality.
All of Us Strangers is a dream journey into a possible past, a hoped-for future, to places that really hurt and ideas about how such pain can be healed. Fantastically melancholic acting, fantastically beautifully filmed, fantastically devastating and uplifting
