Film No. 7 ALL OF US STRANGERS (2024). 28th Jan.

 

Film No. 7  (2024)  January 28th.  11:00 AM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 5, Leederville.

 

"You were always scared of something. Always running away from something. Do you remember?" (Adam's mum, a figment of his imagination, reflects on his behaviours before he was twelve).

WINNER: Best Actor (Andrew Scott) NFSC Award. WINNER: Top Ten Independent Films (Andrew Haigh) NBR Award.

 

When it comes to queer cinema, is Andrew Haigh up there with the best when it comes to compassionate story-telling? Yes, after watching ALL OF US STRANGERS, I think he is.

Haigh's imaginative script gives an insight into a lonely writer's mind. Andrew Scott is Adam, the writer who has much he needs to cleanse from his path to make his life more whole. We meet him at his lowest ebb mentally, but peaking creatively. Is he really meeting his parents who died in a car crash when he was twelve? There is nothing supernatural about Haigh's handling. And has he met the love of his life, in Paul, within the housing complex where they both live? Or is it all a hoax, a figment of this writer's imagination? 

There are elements of Charlie Kaufman (SPOTLESS MIND) here in Haigh's work. Work so deeply touching, your heart will burst as the concluding scenes close in around Adam. You'll think about STRANGERS for days afterwards.  10GUMS.