You\u2019re never quite sure where you stand with this dreamy romantic drama from British writer\/director Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Lean on Pete).<\/p>\n
Though it begins in present-day London, where lonely writer Adam (Andrew Scott) works on a script in a new, nearly empty block of flats, it soon blurs the lines between past and present, living and dead.<\/p>\n
Based on the 1987 novel Strangers<\/a> by Japanese writer Taichi Yamada, but retooled by Haigh to reflect his own autobiography, it manages to feel both specific and universal all at once, one of the hallmarks of great art.<\/p>\n We first see Adam staring out over the urban sprawl, his face ghosted in the window glass. He watches daytime TV, picks at takeaway leftovers, falls asleep on the sofa \u2013 anything but actually writing.<\/p>\n During a fire drill, he spots Harry (Paul Mescal) peering down at him from an apartment high above, another lonely soul trapped in the indifferent city.<\/p>\n Later, Harry knocks at his door and drunkenly propositions him. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea,\u201d says Adam, although they soon begin a tentative romance.<\/p> Adam starts writing, remembering, digging through a box of old memories under the bed. He takes a trip back to his hometown and meets his father (Jamie Bell), who\u2019s about his age and looks a little like Harry.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess who I found loitering in the park?\u201d Adam\u2019s dad tells his mum (Claire Foy), as the three are reunited.<\/p>\n Gradually, it becomes clear that Adam\u2019s parents died a long time ago, but quite how they can commune so casually across the years is never explained.<\/p>\n With just six credited roles \u2013 one of them a waitress; the other Adam glimpsed as a boy \u2013 this is an intimate, powerfully acted affair.<\/p>\n Scott\u2019s amused intensity has enlivened everything from Sherlock to Fleabag on TV, but he\u2019s never been so emotionally bare before. Mescal\u2019s Harry is sweeter, if more broken. They\u2019re both clearly at crisis points, and you hope they might be able to help one another.<\/p>\n Back in the suburbs, both Foy and Bell bring brittle warmth to their characters. They\u2019re far from perfect \u2013 mum is shocked, saying that Adam doesn\u2019t \u201clook gay\u201d when he comes out to her; dad admits he might have bullied him if they were at school together \u2013 but their interactions have the tender ring of truth.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you throw a ball?\u201d asks dad. \u201cNot at all,\u201d laughs Adam. Case closed.<\/p>\n Later, Adam and his mum lie on her bed and talk of the things they missed. He imagined them going to Disneyland in his teens, except they argued all the time. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he says. \u201cWe were together.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s something heartbreaking in the modesty of these wishes. They\u2019re not asking to change what happened, just to have a little more time, whether it\u2019s spent catching up, decorating the Christmas tree or eating at a fast-food restaurant.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n The fact the early scenes were shot at Haigh\u2019s real childhood home gives you some idea of the layers of authenticity on show.<\/p>\n Jamie D Ramsay\u2019s cinematography captures the comforting beiges of suburban life, as well as the capital\u2019s neon mystery. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch\u2019s score, all low shimmering chords, mimics the passing of time. The soundtrack, meanwhile, leans heavily on queer 1980s anthems such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood\u2019s The Power of Love, which grows in importance until it\u2019s part of the narrative itself.<\/p>\n As with Haigh\u2019s earlier work, there\u2019s an elegance that makes the everyday feel profound. While the exact nature of what\u2019s happening remains tantalisingly out of reach, what we\u2019re left with is both beautiful and haunting: a beautiful haunting.<\/p> ![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/007S00087VN0u7Hm-9d9f255.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Strangers\\"\/")
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