‘All of Us Strangers‘, directed by Andrew Haigh, is his latest release that dives into the idea of love through a gay love story. The film is inspired by the 1987 novel ‘Strangers’ by Japanese author Taichi Yamada.
As the movie is getting a good response from the audience since it hit the screens, Haigh has opened up about his idea behind the narrative of the film. The film stars Andrew Scott as the isolated screenwriter Adam, haunted by the ghosts of his deceased parents played by Jamie Bell and Claire Foy.
Related: ‘Ripley’: Cast, Plot, And Release Date Of Netflix’s Iconic Con Man Series Starring Andrew Scott
‘All Of Us Strangers’ Is A Ghost Story Molded Into A Tale Of Hope, Says Director
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly alongside producer Graham Broadbent, Haigh said that the book originally was a traditional Japanese horror story, but he has tried to diverge it towards a more uplifting tale.
‘All of Us Strangers‘ is set in contemporary London. Through the movie, Haigh said he has tried to explore the themes of grief, unspoken emotions, and the possibility of finding happiness. Paul Mescal joins the cast as Harry as his neighbor. The two characters develop a heartfelt connection until the lead character discovers that Harry is also a ghost.
“In many ways, the whole film to me was a love letter saying, it’s okay. It’s quite hard. You’ve all been through some stuff, but you can move on from this and you can find love,” Haigh said while speaking to EW.
“You might lose it again, but you might find it again. That to me is an optimistic outcome in some strange sense, that you can just keep finding love even when it vanishes. And it doesn’t vanish forever. That’s important to me. That’s where it is all about love at the end,” he added.
Producer Graham Broadbent also chimed in. “There’s something in Andrew’s filmmaking. Although it’s a sad story, there’s something kinder and gentler and more beautiful, more generous,” he said about Haigh. .”People might perceive the end of the film as being sad, but I think when you watch it again and again, you see it’s actually more optimistic,” he said.
In case you missed it: Is Taylor Swift’s Ex Joe Alwyn Now Dating Paul MesCal?
‘All Of Us Strangers’ Will Break Your Heart, But It Might Mend It Too
Referring to EW’s review of ‘All of Us Strangers‘, he added, “It’ll break your heart, but it might just mend it too. I find at the end of the film, probably having lived with it for a while, there’s a real beauty and a gentleness and an optimism there, which is very, very far from the book.”
Haigh meanwhile clarified that he doesn’t quite care for the logic of the film’s story. He doesn’t care about, “What’s real or what’s not“. “It’s about the emotional feeling that you get from it…that’s the key,” Haigh said.
Actor Andrew Scott also spoke about the film with EW for an upcoming episode of Awardist podcast. “I feel very strongly that the film is like a dream,” he said. “You wake up from a very, very potent dream and you can feel so sad; you can wake up with floods of tears; you can wake up screaming; you can wake up laughing. I don’t think you go, ‘What happened in the dream? Let’s rewind it’,” he explained.
“We try desperately to understand it, but I think Andrew’s achievement is that he directs us towards the feeling, rather than the logic of what the feeling might be. The most important thing, and the most difficult thing to do, is making the audience genuinely moved,” he said.
‘All of Us Strangers’, while touching on sadness, explores the meanings of beauty, gentleness, and optimism, in a narrative different than the conventional ones. It is currently up in theatres.
You might also like to read: Is ‘Modern Love’ Season 3 Happening?
