The director of All of Us Strangers has opened up about which generation he wanted to highlight in the film.
In January 2024, the highly anticipated fantasy drama, written and directed by acclaimed creative Andrew Haigh, will finally hit cinemas in the UK.
Based on the novel Strangers by Japanese novelist Taichi Yamada, the film follows screenwriter Adam (Scott), who navigates a new romance with his mysterious neighbour Harry (Mescal).
However, things take a surprising turn when Adam comes across his dead parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), who “appear to be living just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.”
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Haigh reflected on his creative process for All of Us Strangers, including his decision to incorporate his childhood home into the film.
“It’s about someone having a reunion with their own past, so it made sense that I would do the same thing. As I was writing about the home Adam goes back to, I started thinking about my own childhood home,” he explained.
“It was a strange choice, emotionally, because I knew it wouldn’t be the easiest place to be. But I wanted the film to have a certain honesty and vulnerability, to feel grounded in some kind of reality.”
Elsewhere in his interview, Haigh revealed that he wanted All of Us Strangers to speak to gay individuals who grew up in the 1980s – a time when anti-LGBTQIA+ hate was at an all-time high due to archaic stigmas and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
“I wanted it be very specific about a certain generation of gay person, which was our generation,” the Looking director told the news outlet.
“It wasn’t an easy time. Growing up, I felt, ‘If I’m going to become a gay person I’m not going to have a future, and the only other alternative is not to be gay’ – which of course you can’t not be. So I wanted to tell that story.”
Haigh also expressed the importance of the film giving space to “a generation of queer people grieving for the childhood they never had.”
“I think there’s a sense of nostalgia for something we never got because we were so tormented. It feels close to grief. It dissipates, but it’s always there. It’s like a knot in your stomach,” he explained.
While it was created with an older queer generation in mind, Haigh said that everyone can relate to the film’s overarching themes.
“All of us are children, a lot of us are parents, a lot of us are in a relationship or not finding love,” he explained.
“Look, I want 15-year-olds to see this movie, not just people our age. If I had seen this film when I was 15, it would probably have made a big difference in me.”
Since its release in the US, All of Us Strangers has received universal acclaim for its moving story, incredible acting performances, and the electric chemistry between Scott and Mescal.
It also holds a certified fresh rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
All of Us Strangers will hit UK cinemas on 26 January.
Latest
