Movie review: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal heartbreaking in 'All of Us Strangers'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- All of Us Strangers, in theaters Friday, is a touching fantasy about coping with grief. As such an effective one, it may hit especially hard for audiences with fresh emotional wounds of their own.

Adam (Andrew Scott) meets Harry (Paul Mescal) - the only neighbors in an empty London apartment complex. They begin a relationship.

During the days, Adam heads to his parents' house in London, where he visits his mother (Claire Foy) and father (Jamie Bell). If Foy and Bell seem too young to have a son Scott's age, that's because Adam informs Harry that his birth parents died in an automobile accident when he was a child.

When Adam visits, he gets to come out to his parents, which he never got a chance to do when he was old enough to discover his own sexuality. Adam also has to revisit the homophobia his mother might have had in the early '90s had she found out then.

The film, based on Taichi Yamada's book, is vague about the mythology. Adam's parents could be ghosts occupying his childhood home, just his memories or possibly delusions.

The mechanics of how it works aren't important. What is important is that Adam uses this opportunity to work through his grief, but also that having regular access to his parents holds him back emotionally.

Scott conveys the confusion of grief. It stays with you as one tries to reconcile memories with one's new life in which the dead are no longer a part.

There is no version of this scenario that is not heartbreaking. Either Adam moves on and gives up the visits, or he misses out on his future to hold onto the past.

Writer-director Andrew Haigh uses film technique to convey Adam's point of view. The perspective can change drastically in the frame, or cut to a new location jarringly, as it can feel when someone gets lost in thought and snaps out of it.

The relationship between Adam and Harry is also loving, growing from a gentle flirtation to intimate passion. Adam and Harry also share experiences growing up gay, which was different for each.

All of Us Strangers has a unique and sensitive take on the afterlife. It focuses on the grief of the survivors and doesn't judge Adam for taking as long as he takes to heal.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.