ALL OF US STRANGERS
Memory Bank of Mum and Dad
RELEASED 26 JANUARY 15 | 105 minutes
Director Andrew Haigh
Cast Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal,
Jamie Bell, Claire Foy
A fantastical premise is handled with complete sincerity and naturalism in Andrew Haigh’s moving, soulful and erotically charged drama. Based on a novel by the late Japanese author Taichi Yamada, it’s a tale of love, loss and loneliness with a Shyamalan-ish twist, anchored throughout by a career-best performance from Sherlock’s Andrew Scott.
Writer Adam (Scott) lives alone in a near-empty London tower block, labouring on a script about the parents he lost when he was 11. Returning on a whim to the house in the suburbs he left decades ago, hes amazed to find his mum (Claire Foy) and dad (Jamie Bell) still there in unaged situ, just as he knew them before the car crash that killed them. The lure of the past is powerful as Adam gets to spend time with (and come out to) these spectres of his loved ones. But could it be inhibiting too, not least if it stops him committing to a new relationship in the present with charming neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal)?
Like all good ghost stories, Haigh’s has spine-tingling surprises in store for both his hero and the viewer. Yet the real surprise is how much heartfelt emotion it also conveys as Adam gradually fathoms the lifeenhancing value of meaningful human connection.
A soundtrack crammed with ’80s bangers adds a rich coating of nostalgia to a film that doesn’t need effects (or a Delorean) to step back in time. Neil Smith
Director Andrew Haigh used his own childhood home as the house where Adam is reunited with his parents.
A tale of love, loss and loneliness