---
title: "All of Us Strangers"
year: 2023
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/all-of-us-strangers"
fi1m_id: "all-of-us-strangers"
imdb_id: "tt21192142"
tmdb_id: 994108
wikidata_id: "Q113516747"
fi1m_score: 82
critics_score: 87
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:00.337189+00:00"
region: "TR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# All of Us Strangers (2023)

Directed by Andrew Haigh · 1h 45m · RTÜK 18+ · Romance, Drama, Fantasy

## Identity

All of Us Strangers

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/all-of-us-strangers
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** all-of-us-strangers
- **IMDb ID:** tt21192142
- **TMDB ID:** 994108
- **Wikidata ID:** Q113516747
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21192142/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/994108, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113516747

**Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 87 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* A ghost story where the ghosts make a cup of tea and ask if you have met anyone

> Andrew Haigh sends Andrew Scott home to parents who died when he was a boy, and the scenes with Claire Foy and Jamie Bell are as good as anything he has made. The romance beside them is thinner, and the ending leans on the songs.

## Synopsis

Adam (Andrew Scott) is a screenwriter who lives alone near the top of a new tower block with almost nobody else in it. Looking for something to write about, he takes the train out to the house he grew up in and finds his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) inside, as they were before they died when he was a child, ready to hear about his life. He keeps going back. In the same weeks he lets Harry (Paul Mescal), a neighbour and one of the few other people in the building, into his flat and into his life. Andrew Haigh writes and directs, from a novel by Taichi Yamada.

## Review

Andrew Haigh has made a ghost story in which nobody is frightened. Adam (Andrew Scott) is a screenwriter living alone near the top of a new tower block with almost nobody else in it. Looking for something to write about, he takes a train to the house he grew up in, and his parents are inside. They died when he was a boy; here they are, younger than he is now, asking whether he has eaten. Haigh, writing and directing from a novel by Taichi Yamada, treats this as the most ordinary thing in the world, and for an hour the film is as good as anything he has made.

Claire Foy and Jamie Bell are the reason. They play Mum and Dad, which is what the credits call them, as people from another decade who love their son and do not know what to do with the man he has become. In the kitchen Adam tells his mother he is gay, and Foy plays the next minute as a woman searching for something kind and coming up with the wrong words, one after another. We came apart in that scene, quietly, and it was her face that did it: not the disapproval but the fear underneath it, which is love with nowhere to go. Bell has a later scene about something heard through a bedroom door years ago, and he plays it with his eyes down, and hardly moves, and it is enough.

Jamie D. Ramsay shoots the two worlds so that you always know which one you are in. The flat is glass and grey, lit by a city that never seems to have anyone in it, and Adam is often small against a window. The house is lamplight and Christmas colours, with a haze on everything as if someone had breathed on the lens. Sarah Finlay’s production design keeps the house as it was left, down to the wallpaper and the records, and Sarah Blenkinsop puts Mum in a blouse and cardigan nobody has bought new since the 1980s. Jonathan Alberts cuts without establishing shots, so Adam falls asleep in one place and wakes in another and we stop asking how. The film would fall apart if it explained itself.

Paul Mescal’s Harry is the neighbour, and the other half of the film. Mescal is good at the loneliness under the charm, and the early scenes between the two men are slow and honest about how people who have been alone a long time get used to being touched. Scott is remarkable throughout; he has the stillness of a man who has learnt to want almost nothing, and he lets it crack a little at a time. But Harry is written thinner than the parents. He is there to be kind and a bit sad, and we learn about his life in a handful of lines while Adam’s takes up the whole film. Most critics have been carried past this. We noticed, and it is the gap between the film’s two halves.

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s score is strings, held low, and it mostly stays out of the way. The songs do not. Haigh uses the pop of the decade Adam’s parents stopped in, and there is a stretch near the end, which we will not describe, where a record is asked to carry more than the writing has earned. We were moved, and we could feel the film deciding that we should be, which is not quite the same thing. One or two critics have called the ending sentimental. We would say it is a step softer than what came before, and the step shows.

Set against Haigh’s own films, this is the one where he lets go. *Weekend* kept two men in a flat and listened to them; *45 Years* watched a marriage take a knock and stay standing. Both were dry. This is not, and it is braver for it, even where it goes soft. The consensus is warm and we are a little short of it, but only a little.

See it in a cinema if you can, where the silences in the kitchen are harder to get away from. It is 105 minutes and a 15, and you will want to ring somebody afterwards. Choose carefully who.

*Fi1m score 82, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics are moved by All of Us Strangers, and many say so without much reserve. The praise settles first on Andrew Scott, whose lead performance is described across the reviews as bare, honest and personal, and then on his scenes with Paul Mescal, which several critics treat as the film’s charge. Andrew Haigh’s direction is credited with keeping a ghost story about a man reunited with his dead parents from turning soft, and Claire Foy and Jamie Bell are singled out repeatedly for the parental scenes. The 1980s pop on the soundtrack gets mentions of its own.

The spread is narrow but not unanimous. The New Yorker and Vulture both find the parental half stronger than the romance, which they think never quite settles into the rest of the film. /Film goes further and finds the whole thing too sentimental and emotionally tidy. The i Paper, otherwise admiring, notes some strain in the final act.

## Straight answers

**Is All of Us Strangers worth watching?**

*All of Us Strangers* is worth watching for anyone who can sit with grief at close range, and we scored it 82. The scenes between Andrew Scott and his dead parents, played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, are as good as anything Andrew Haigh has made. The romance with Paul Mescal is thinner, and the ending leans on its songs.

**How long is All of Us Strangers, and what is it rated?**

*All of Us Strangers* runs 1h 45m and is rated 18+ by the RTÜK in Türkiye. It is a romance and drama film.

**Where can I watch All of Us Strangers in Türkiye?**

*All of Us Strangers* is not on any streaming or rental service in Türkiye at the moment. It is available in 43 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is All of Us Strangers, and is it suitable for children?**

*All of Us Strangers* is a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not violent or frightening in any usual sense: it is a ghost story in which nobody is scared. The certificate reflects adult language and intimate scenes between two men. It is not for children, though the difficulty is emotional rather than graphic.

**How does All of Us Strangers compare to Weekend?**

*All of Us Strangers* is the film where Andrew Haigh lets go, and [*Weekend*](https://film.one/film/weekend) is the one where he holds back. The earlier film keeps two men in a Nottingham flat and listens to them; it is drier, tighter and truer as a love story. The later one is warmer and braver, and softer where it counts, so choose *Weekend* for the romance and this for the parents.

**Is All of Us Strangers based on a true story or a book?**

*All of Us Strangers* is adapted from a novel by Taichi Yamada, not from a true story. Andrew Haigh writes and directs, and has moved it to a near-empty London tower block and a suburban childhood home, with a gay screenwriter at its centre. You do not need to have read the book; the film explains as little as it can and is better for it.

**What should I watch after All of Us Strangers?**

After *All of Us Strangers*, try [*Weekend*](https://film.one/film/weekend) (2011, Fi1m 86): Haigh’s breakthrough: two men, one flat, a weekend, and no ghosts required. Then [*Petite Maman*](https://film.one/film/petite-maman) (2021, Fi1m 88): A girl meets her mother as a child in the woods; short, plain, devastating; and [*Truly, Madly, Deeply*](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply) (1990, Fi1m 80): Anthony Minghella’s grief comedy, in which the dead return and start to get on your nerves.

### Reviews we read (26)

- **Empire**, Alex Godfrey (5/5): Andrew Haigh delivers a flawless, brazenly personal film that aches and shimmers as a tender portrait of a fragile man reconnecting with lost parents and finding solace in a new relationship. Scott and Mescal’s chemistry is magical in this gorgeous, emotionally raw odyssey. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/all-of-us-strangers/)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (4/5/5): The critic calls it a supernova of a film and praises Haigh as a modern master. It singles out the electric chemistry between Scott and Mescal as atomic and the film’s ability to capture the catharsis of processing pain. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/all-of-us-strangers)
- **Radio Times**, Matt Glasby (5/5): The critic describes the film as both beautiful and haunting. It singles out Scott’s emotionally bare performance and Haigh’s elegant filmmaking that makes everyday observations feel profound. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/all-of-us-strangers-review/)
- **Time Out**, Anna Bogutskaya (5/5): The critic hails it as a miraculously uncheesy study of loneliness, forgiveness and the power of love. It singles out the feverish, rapt and tender chemistry between Scott and Mescal. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/all-of-us-strangers-2023)
- **The AV Club**, Murtada Elfadl (A): Haigh combines elements of budding romance and parental reconciliation for a cathartic story richer than his prior work, with stirring performances especially from Claire Foy that heal emotional wounds through sensitive storytelling. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/all-of-us-strangers-movie-review-1851113076)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): The film is hailed as the year's best, capturing the dreamlike reunion with lost loved ones through a ghost story and gay romance. It excels in its emotional depth, performances, and exploration of family and queer identity. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-12-20/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-scott-paul-mescal-claire-foy-jamie-bell)
- **The Guardian**, Wendy Ide (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as an emotionally wrenching masterpiece and a raw, potent piece of storytelling that grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go. They single out Andrew Scott’s performance and the director’s personal connection to the material for particular praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/28/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-haigh-andrew-scott-paul-mescal)
- **Total Film**, Matt Maytum (90/100, inferred): Andrew Haigh’s adaptation is a very moving piece of work that evades easy genre classification as part romance, fantasy and thriller. Scott and Mescal deliver nuanced, compelling performances with magnetic chemistry in this emotionally satisfying story. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/all-of-us-strangers-review/)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (Critics Pick): Praises the tender, devastating ghost story reimagined with queer elements, highlighting intimate performances and emotional catharsis around parental acceptance and new romance. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/all-of-us-strangers-review-paul-mescal-1235705668/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's shift to more cinematic, fantastical imagery in depicting a screenwriter's emotional reconnection with his deceased parents and a new romance. He notes it excels in family scenes but finds the romantic relationship less fully realized. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/all-of-us-strangers-is-a-romantic-fantasy-about-filmmaking)
- **Vulture** (60/100, inferred): The parental ghost story is the stronger, more moving half with terrific performances from Bell and Foy, while the romance feels less organic and airless; the film handles characters' discomfort with their identities admirably but the two strands do not fully cohere. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-all-of-us-strangers-is-two-movies-trying-to-be-one.html)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich: Haigh delivers a timelessly soul-stirring ode to the power of love in this emotionally shattering ghost story, with Andrew Scott coming out to his dead parents amid strong performances from the cast. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-haigh-1234901327/)
- **Screen Daily**: The critic calls it an exquisitely melancholy fantasy-infused meditation on loss and isolation. It singles out the killer combination of 80s queer pop and the devastating performances from Scott and Mescal. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/all-of-us-strangers-telluride-review/5185285.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic finds Haigh’s time-slipping film a deeply affecting supernatural exploration of grief and structural homophobia. It singles out the performances of Scott and Mescal for their vulnerability and desire in the central relationship. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/all-us-strangers-andrew-haighs-glorious-magic-realist-meditation-grief)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The critic praises Haigh's personal adaptation as a hauntingly beautiful study of family, love, and loss, highlighting the emotional depth of performances by Scott, Mescal, Foy, and Bell. The film is a soul-stirring companion to Haigh's earlier work, though it may wreck viewers emotionally. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-scott-paul-mescal-andrew-haigh-1235576072/)
- **The Independent**: Andrew Scott delivers the performance of his career as a lonely screenwriter who reconnects with the ghosts of his parents in this melancholy ghost story. The film tenderly captures the passion between Scott and Paul Mescal while exploring unresolved family trauma and queer identity. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/all-of-us-strangers-review-b2483412.html)
- **The i Paper**, Christina Newland: Andrew Haigh’s ghostly love story is overwhelmingly powerful despite some narrative flaws in the final act. The performances of Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal anchor this devastating exploration of grief, loneliness and love’s infinite nature. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/all-of-us-strangers-review-paul-mescal-2868412)
- **Film Stories**, Simon Brew (95/100, inferred): The critic finds the film profoundly moving and one of the most exceptional cinematic experiences in years, noting its deep emotional impact and perfect ending while deliberately avoiding plot details to preserve the viewing experience. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/all-of-us-strangers-a-sort-of-review-with-a-star-rating-at-the-end/)
- **Collider**, Emma Kiely (9/10): The film offers one of the most shattering and beautiful accounts of loss, love, and loneliness in recent cinema, with an impeccable script and perfect cast led by Andrew Scott driving home its themes of grief and human connection. [Read](https://collider.com/all-of-us-strangers-review/)
- **NME**, Paul Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it the saddest film of the year but a beautiful, heartbreaking masterpiece and early contender for best of the year. They single out Andrew Scott's honest and deeply personal performance for praise, along with the film's tender handling of grief, memory and queer connection. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/all-of-us-strangers-review-paul-mescal-andrew-scott-claire-foy-3576917)
- **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a standout work that explores grief, bereavement, and LGBTQ+ experiences with emotional depth, highlighting strong performances especially from Andrew Scott and effective use of music and atmosphere. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/all-of-us-strangers-2023-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
- **The Playlist**, Gregory Ellwood (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film often sublime, praising Andrew Scott’s superb lead performance and the moving exploration of loneliness, family reconnection, and romance, noting it is hard to shake after viewing. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/all-of-us-strangers-telluride-review-andrew-scott-is-superb-in-andrew-haighs-portrait-of-inherent-loneliness-20230901/)
- **/Film**, Mike Shutt (5.5/10): The critic finds the film well-acted with strong visuals but ultimately too sentimental and emotionally pat, lacking the depth expected from the premise despite impressive performances. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1434864/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-scott-paul-mescal/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond: The film is a challenging but rewarding character-driven story of love lost and found, with strong performances from Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal bringing conviction to its ghostly elements and questions about relationships. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/08/all-of-us-strangers-review-paul-mescal-andrew-scott-1235532324/)
- **Paste**, Jesse Hassenger (7.8): The critic praises Haigh's clear-eyed portrayal of lasting heartbreak and loneliness, highlighting the note-perfect performances, especially Andrew Scott's. The film avoids easy uplift, emphasizing that wounds from isolation don't heal easily. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/andrew-haigh/all-of-us-strangers-review)
- **The Wrap**, Tomris Laffly: Andrew Haigh’s poignant and understated ghost story is a sublime masterpiece and one of the best films of the year, a rumination on grief and love that breaks your heart only to heal it. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/all-of-us-strangers-review-andrew-scott-paul-mescal/)

## Details

- **Director:** Andrew Haigh
- **Director:** Andrew Haigh
- **Writer:** Andrew Haigh
- **Novel:** Taichi Yamada
- **Cinematography:** Jamie Ramsay
- **Editor:** Jonathan Alberts
- **Music:** Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
- **Production design:** Sarah Finlay
- **Costume design:** Sarah Blenkinsop
- **Producer:** Graham Broadbent, Sarah Harvey, Peter Czernin
- **Cast:** Andrew Scott as Adam; Paul Mescal as Harry; Carter John Grout as Young Adam; Jamie Bell as Dad; Claire Foy as Mum; Ami Tredrea as Waitress; Sean Tizzard as Dad on train (uncredited)
- **Runtime:** 1h 45m
- **Certificate (RTÜK):** 18+
- **Release (Türkiye):** 20 March 2024
- **Genres:** Romance, Drama, Fantasy
- **Budget:** $5 million
- **Box office:** $15 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukYlZuKn-mc

## Where to watch in Türkiye

Not streaming, renting or buying in Türkiye at the last check.

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actor 2024: International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actor (won)
- International Cinephile Society Award for Best Director 2024: International Cinephile Society Award for Best Director (nominated)
- International Cinephile Society Award for Best Ensemble 2024: International Cinephile Society Award for Best Ensemble (won)
- International Cinephile Society Award for Best Film 2024: International Cinephile Society Award for Best Film (nominated)
- International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actor 2024: International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actor (won)

## If you liked this

- *Weekend* (2011), Fi1m 86: Haigh’s breakthrough: two men, one flat, a weekend, and no ghosts required. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/weekend.md)
- *Petite Maman* (2021), Fi1m 88: A girl meets her mother as a child in the woods; short, plain, devastating. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/petite-maman.md)
- *Truly, Madly, Deeply* (1990), Fi1m 80: Anthony Minghella’s grief comedy, in which the dead return and start to get on your nerves. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply.md)
- *Aftersun* (2022), Fi1m 85: A daughter pieces together one holiday with her father; the same ache, warmer weather. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/aftersun.md)
- *The Discarnates* (1988): Nobuhiko Obayashi’s earlier film of the same Yamada novel; stranger, and far more afraid of its ghosts.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/all-of-us-strangers