It is absolutely criminal how this film and Andrew Scott in particular have been largely ignored by a lot of awards bodies. He shouldn't just have an Oscar nomination, he should be at the top of the list to win it this year.
It’s also criminal it’s not being released on DVD or Blu Ray as the distribution company say they will only allow streaming. This is such an insult to the gay community and potential audiences everywhere who would like a copy of one of the few films that does not stereotype gay people and is so wonderfully, written, directed and acted of course.
This is why I will support queer creatives as much as I can because I feel like for some time to come still only we can have each other's back. I want them to keep telling our stories and clearly even when we have achieved so much better than a lot of the films that are nominated, they will be the ones that will get to go home with all the prizes and recognition. Nothing has upset me more this year during the awards season than the way this film and Fellow Travelers got robbed. 🥺😔
31, gay man here. I live a pretty isolated life. My mom died back in February and my dad died in 2020. Lately, I’ve been having conversations with them in my head to get their advice on things, often imagining conversations with them sitting at my kitchen table or in my living rooms. That movie made me feel seen not only with my grief, but with my struggles with depression and loneliness. It almost felt like it was made for me. Thank you for your interpretation on this beautiful film. Edit: thank you all for the beautiful messages. I come back here from time to time to read them. Thank you for sharing your stories and reaching out to console. It’s good to know there are good people in the world out there that can empathize ❤️ Love to all of you.
Hey bud! Just wanted to say that the movie also shows to acknowledge all your past and traumas and move on from it as well❤Please try your best to recover from it soon and live your life to the fullest. I hope you start socializing and take help from counselors! I wish you All The VERY Best in life and hope that you find a great partner and friends in future 🫂 ~lots of virtual hugs ,support and well wishes!❤️
@@kimjunguwu4304 you are absolutely correct. It has been a couple months and I have had time to process and talk it out with several people, including my counselor. While the movie does highlight some pretty key issues I’ve dealt with personally, to your point, it’s super important to keep in mind that healing/confronting your past in a pathway to healing is a key element of this story as well. Especially when healing and understanding your grief can allow you to be a supportive and empathetic friend and partner to those that may need us just as much as we need them, as we witnessed at the end of the movie. Thank you for saying something and for your very kind words. All the virtual hugs and well wishes back to you, my friend ❤️
@@i.t.t. Yeah, it really just hits you right in the Heart. But I'm sending you a HUGE Hug all the way from Denmark! 🤗 I hope it helps just a teeny bit. Take care ❤🩹
To Any person really i also lived half my 20s by myself alone and almost burn down my place twice and the first tough trough my mind was if i die would anyone be sad or missed me ?
To Any person really i also lived half my 20s by myself alone and almost burn down my place twice and the first tough trough my mind was if i die would anyone be sad or missed me ?
The relationship between Adam and Harry is the same as the relationship between Adam and his parents, so you could say they are "ghosts". Harry died at the night after they first met.If only Adam had been brave enough to invite Harry into his apartment maybe he would still be alive. Poor Harry died in loneliness waiting for someone to find his body.
@@erics1140 He's not dead..Because he's the only one the waiter can see when he's at the restaurant with his parents and when he ordered menu family special the waiter said that the portion was too much for 1 person.
I loved the connection with Harry's 'There's vampires at my door' at the beginning of the film and Adam's soft whisper, '[I'll] keep the vampires from your door' at the end of the film.
This was soooo poetic and storytelling at its best! When you can bring something back from the beginning and have it make a new meaning/impact by the end of the film. Loved this song before but I won't be able to listen to it and not think of this now. Hauntingly beautiful ❤
Just watched this review again, months later, still tears, and how you guys discuss and emotionally engage with the movie , I felt like we were watching it together. I just missed holding someone's hand while watching that ....
I feel this movie is able to trigger every human person, because it touches the universal subject of loneliness, and the subject-fear of dying without anyone noticing. What is one of the cruelest, but realistal thing which happens unfortunately. This is the second time I watch the movie, and I still cry deeply at that moment.
Thank you for your wonderfully sensitive reactions. You guys really surpassed yourselves! I've seen All Of Us Strangers twice in the theater now, and as a 75-year-old gay man I have to say that it is truly one of the most moving and profound films centered on our experience that I've ever had the good fortune to see. (Andrew Haigh is pretty much my favorite film director for everything he's done, and of course particularly Weekend and Looking.) I'm particularly grateful that you both make the effort to see beyond dualities of sad/happy, black/white, etc. because life encompasses both great joy and great sorrow, and because as human beings we have the CHOICE, moment to moment, to open our hearts to LOVE -- both giving and receiving it. I hope those who watch your commentary, and who haven't yet seen the film, will go see it. Thank you again, and BE WELL.
I think the moment where Adam's dad says "I love you more, somehow, now that I know you" is the most beautiful thing. Because thats the point of coming out. Knowing someone is essential to loving them fully. What a great film!
In case no one has mentioned it yet, I think Adam was probably dead the whole time as well (lmao, sorry). There are many references to fire throughout the whole movie, but the most telling ones in my opinion are the fire alarm at the beginning (with Harry saying 'it will be real one of these days'), and Adam being hot throughout the movie and coughing a lot when he's upset (when they first kiss he also says he forgot to breathe etc.), so I think he died in a fire in his building. Also the whole vibe of the film is really giving purgatory in my opinion with the editing and sound design and just the whole disorienting structure, plus some other small things, like Adam waking up and asking 'how is it still Sunday?' So in my interpretation Adam and Harry are both something like ghosts who can't move on until they find each other and help each other heal :)
Siiiii, re-viendo a peli, tambien pienso que Adam muere en algun momento y creo que lo que dices es tremendamente acertado...yo pensé en algun momento al volver a ver la peli que fue en la fiesta, donde se ve solo, que ahi debe haber muerto de sobredosis o algo asi, pero siiii, Adam con fiebre durante la peli y lo otro que comentas, tiene mucho mas sentido....
My thoughts exactly !!!! Adam had to be dead also for them to become a beautiful star together ... I felt joy for Adam getting time with his parents and finding love with Harry....
Not possible, because the waitress sees him in the diner when he's saying goodbye to his parents. That's why she's mildly surprised that he orders the family special.
You two coped better than me, i nearly had to be carried out of the cinema, i cried whole way home, all the next day, my straight son cried, didnt sleep that night and cried the whole next day, this film should have gotten every award going, its the best film iv seen in a few years kudas to both actors, love andrew scott ❤❤❤❤ xx
I'm a couple of years older than Adam, and relate so hard to the movie. One of the things that I think is harder for younger generations to understand, is the extent to which being gay was only ever defined in terms of sex for so many, despite our internal sense that it's about love, hence the dislocation and uncertainty around "am I in love?" That, coupled with the knowledge that sex was fatal; I do not miss the 80s.
Said exactly what I was thinking: I'm Gen X, and intimacy seemed about sex=disease=death in the 80s/90s and not true love, note Adam's mother saying "it will be such a hard life." Actually, I never recovered from the trauma.
i recently watched an interview with claire foy and andrew scott on a podcast, and claire said something so insightful about how when a parent dies before their child, not only doesnthe child miss out on having that parent, but that the parent also misses out on seeing their child grow up. i’m absolutely butchering her eloquent way of wording things, but that statement made me want to cry.
10:00 yes, it was directed by a queer person (and i agree, it showed) and more than that, andrew haigh used elements of his life to create this movie; btw all of us strangers was shot in the actually childhood house where andrew haigh lived
Watched it again with you guys. Adam is a screenwriter and he wrote a play to get through his past trauma. When he’s ready to love, and go looking for Harry. Harry passed away from alcohol and overdose that night when Adam denied him company. Sad sad story. 😭
I watched this on a plane and the tears just didn't stop flowing out. I couldn't do anything but look into the screen and just go through the journey and cry almost the whole movie. It was both mesmerizing and so, so sad. I saw myself in it; it touched a place in my heart I didn't know was THIS tender. Thanks for helping me relive it!
I was able to see this in a theater about a month ago and it is still with me. I was almost disappointed that I didn’t have a more immediate reaction in the theater. But when I got to my car, it started hitting me in waves. And continues to now. This film is so impactful and mature in the way it deals with and what it says about loss, grief, depression and loneliness. Truly the best picture of 2023. That it got completely snubbed by the Academy is truly criminal.
This was my favourite film of 2023. Between this, Fellow Travelers, Heartstopper, Good Grief, and to a lesser extent even Red, White & Royal Blue (happy romcom focused on a gay relationship for once), gay media has been really helping me heal my trauma lately. It's allowing me to confront it and see what I didn't get in my own experience and to see what I needed. All of Us Strangers destroyed me the first time. I saw it with a full audience at the cinema and had to try and stifle ugly crying. All of the conversations he has with his parents could have been lifted from my own life. My parents are still alive but my coming out isn't something we ever really talk about and I had to figure out so much on my own. I got bullied and picked on growing up for many years by so many of my classmates. Over time it started to change me and family members noticed but nobody said anything or helped. That conversation he has with his dad and when his dad says "sorry I never came into your room when you were crying" and the way his voice breaks, I needed to hear that for myself, I was welling up in that moment. My mother had a bit of that AIDS fear that Adam's mother had, same kind of worries about what life would be like for me, both parents emotionally absent. The final conversation he has with them at the diner, hearing his dad say he was proud of him for making it through and then the way his mom says "such a kind and gentle boy", people have referred to me that way, it hit me so hard, I was crying so hard at that point. So many things said that I needed to hear. When the film was over, the crowd in the theatre took awhile to get up and start exiting, everyone was just kind of in this stunned emotional silence. I would have maybe changed the ending, maybe have Adam and Harry together as these 2 lonely people that found each other in this world.
I was anxious to see your reactions, since I spent two hours staring into space after I finished seeing this at the movies. And I would listen to Andrew Scott reading the phone book and he deserved every award in the book for this performance.
This is such a devastating and beautiful film! I saw it in the theater and was just speechless afterward. One thing that really knocked me sideways was when his dad basically told him if he'd been a kid at his school he'd have probably bullied him. Sometimes a kids parents are their first bullies, and it's rarely been discussed so openly before, I think. I dunno, that whole scene really stuck with me, including when his dad apologized for not coming in his room when he was crying. I would give anything to hear my parents say they were sorry for certain parts of my upbringing. This whole movie was so powerful. It deserves all the awards!
Such a beautiful movie. Broke my heart. The end when you realize that Harry had died the first night and could have been saved if Adam let him in just broke me. The most amazing performances and am absolutely fuming that the movie and performances were not nominated for Oscars.
I love how you both immediately just got this film, but what I find most impressive is that you were able to speak coherently afterwords. I was speechless for a long ass time after that ended. We drove home from the theater trying to talk about it but sobbing all over again 😂 grateful for you two ❤️
I didn't cry at the ending when I first saw it the other day. Not because I wasn't affected, more because I was so affected I was past the point of being able to cry. As a straight woman, I can't relate in the same way to the LGBTQ+ element, even though I can have very strong feelings for it...but this film had so much more than just that. It was relatable in so many ways, so close to home. I agree with Alex that love isn't always an easy emotion to understand or recognise, i've had many times in my life where I have thought I don't know if what i'm feeling is love because i'm not sure I know what love feels like. No one can tell you what love is, I suppose, because its going to be unique to that person, but that doesn't help you when you can't recognise it in yourself. And for me, not recognising what loving someone feels like has made it very hard to understand how it feels to be loved by someone else. I sobbed through this reaction video, which was very much needed after being hit so hard by the film on first watch, so thank you.
Loved this reaction. The whole cinema was quietly crying by the end of this when I went to see it. It is just so beautifully tender and Andrew Scott conveys that so brilliantly. I can't believe he didn't get a Bafta nomination.
From the time that this film was first advertised, I knew that his parents were dead. I never realized that his neighbor past that first scene was a ghost as well. Wow. Everyone gave outstanding performances, but Andrew Scott's was so many level's above everyone else's I think.
Your last conversation really made me tear up. Your channel is so so important and needs even more recognition than it already has!!! I’m sure a lot of people seek hope and find it in your channel….I sure do!! Thank you Alex and Josh #youareloved
I’m slowly coming out as a bisexual man. I have also lost my mom tragically and it took me 9 years to accept the fact I never told her that I enjoyed the company of both men and women. It’s been a very lonely life for me, I’m only 28 and I feel as if I already died. But reality hit me a month ago and I said, “I’m ready to start a new life.” I’m prepared to lose my friends, my religion, and even my way. But man I can’t wait to be free This movie made me cry and feel so seen
As someone who lost the parents last year and didn't come out to them. this movie was a shock. I had to pause it so so many times because I was crying so hard I couldn't keep going. The idea of seeing and talking to your parents are a dream come true and to say goodbye to them again to going on is a nightmare. I must say after this movie I back to rails and start taking care of myself again. It helped me to get out of a hole I was trapped and graving myself into it. Today I watched it again, come to this video and saw this beautiful reaction... Unfortunately this is the only place I (and many of us) can be ourselves... Specially when you didn't come out yet... This still can be a lonely way of living but I appreciate places like this exist
This not just a great LGTB film. It is a great film, period. You do not have to be gay to take a lot from this piece. It's simply an astounding piece of work.
I watched this film with my sister and father- we were all sobbing by the end, but each of us for completely different emotional reasons. I think that’s what’s beautiful about this film- it heals so many things for so many different experiences 😢
This movie broke me. Such an incredibly powerful story of love and loss. I expected nothing less with Andrew Haig at the helm. He’s such a talented filmmaker. Loved seeing your reactions to it. You guys are the best. ❤️ from CT, USA
Not me crying at this again...I don't know how I managed to keep it more together in the cinema! As a queer person who is often lonely this really resonated with me. Absolutely beautiful film.
Yeah as someone who Maladaptively daydreams I related to this movie a LOT... As it really really seems like that is what the main character is doing... Obviously his daydreams are significantly more detailed and life-like than mine, most of the time... But if I get high on weed my daydreams get significantly more vivid. To the point where I can absolutely start crying because of whatever sad thing is happening in them. Most of the time my daydreams are pleasant...but not always... just like the main charater. Yeah I don't know if that was the intention of the writer ...but that's really what looked like was happening to me very intense daydreams and dissociation.
This movie brings out all the "baggage" that you didn't know you were carrying,makes you hear words that you didn't know that you needed to hear,reminds you of all the things you needed for yourself but forgot about,all words you want to say but can't get out but knowing that this movie touched so many people and really exquisitely depicts the life experiences that we all go through as queer or not but never really get to say outloud because of shame or whatever and it really dived deep into queer experiences that no lqgbt content that i know of has manage to depict so beautifully. Really loved it❤❤❤
Watching this movie in a fine arts theater was just heart wrenching. So many people openly crying and sobbing. A beautiful film for sure. ANDREW SCOTT is brilliant. I'm glad you guys did this important film.
I saw this a few weeks ago, and I keep going back to it, thinking about it, watching interviews with the cast and creators. Just such a powerful important film. I'm a straight female (and a mum) and I saw it with my fiancee, we were both just so blown away by it. We both got in the car in silence and then he played the power of love while we drove home. I lay awake that night just processing the whole film. Truly haven't had a film affect me so much in a long time. The performances were sublime, each of the four cast members deserves to be recognised for their work in this film, and Andrew Scott particularly was just everything. He's so subtle and yet every movement and inflection carries weight. Paul Mescal was heartbreaking and the parents, wow! Particularly as a parent I just crumbled watching them. The writer/director has truly created the most unusual and lingering piece of work here. You can tell the whole film in sprinkled in his life's experiences and the ability for him to trust his cast so implicitly (for very evident reason) and not rely on jumpy cuts etc and rather just simple direction gives this an even more realistic feel which allows the viewers to be pulled in even more. I had a creeping apprehension that Harry was similar to the parents. I started to get quite uneasy when Adam woke up in his childhood home in the kids pyjamas as initially the print looked like a hospital robe to me. It dawned on me that there was more to come and him preparing to say goodbye to his parents again was going to echo with Harry too. When he got out of the elevator I knew what he would find and just whispered "no, no, no" apparently. I didn't know how else to cope. I feel that Adam was actually dead too, in some kind of waiting room/purgatory, that he was destined to meet Harry and they both help each other. There are lots of instances of red light being used, him living high up above everyone else, mentions of him supposed to be in the car, him not seeing his mum when she woke up/after the accident, his unawareness of time in a way, him in an otherwise empty building. These two had to fall in love to heal, it didn't matter if it was in this life or not. Perhaps I have read too much into it, but I can't decide if he dies as a child or later as a result of all the trauma he has dealt with. I want to see it again to understand it more, but I'm not sure I can manage that just yet. It was so important to hear your point of view and your commentary about just how important some of the story was in a way I can understand but not fully relate to and it helped my understanding of the film even more. Thank you.
I agree with you, only I think Adam died in a fire, part way through the film (there are various mentions of him being hot and him coughing frequently). I think his ghost found Harry's body and that they decide to be together, forever.
Theory with spoilers: if it makes you feel better, my take is Adam died in a fire. The comments about him being hot. The fire alarm. No one else in the buildings but a dead guy. Both in the light at the end of the tunnel. So they get to be together. See, a happy ending.
But that would mean Adam lost his parents as a child, lived a lonely life without ever falling in love and then dying alone in a fire. That's not a happy ending for me :( He deserved happiness while being alive, not just once he's reached purgatory/the afterlife/whatever.
@@xxjeait's interesting how this movie was made by a gay person and yet the gays die lonely after having lived sad lives. if the creator was straight everyone would be calling it BYG
I agree Adam died in a fire, right at the beginning of the film. All the characters are ghosts. Adam did get a happy ending he and Harry got to spend eternity together, in the sky.
That feeling of coming out to your parents in your mind multiple times like test runs, and having the version of your parents in your mind be accepting and willing to learn more about you. Only to see the exact opposite in real life, oof. Can't wait to watch this for myself!
I've loved Andrew Haigh ever since I watched Weekend and Looking, but this film really is something else. Personally I think Adam is dying throughout the film and that's how he can see "ghosts". If you look at some of the imagery used it stronly invokes fire. And then of course there's the fire alarm at the beginning of the film and Harry saying "one day that alarm's gonna be for real" during their first meeting. Adam being hot and not being able to breathe at various points in the film. And then like you commented that shot where out his window you see what look like sirens, but maybe are the club lights.. And then of course at the end they become a star, which also suggests to me they're both dead at that point. I'm not yet sure if that interpretation makes me feel better or worse though. But I think this film is such a beautiful exploration of grief and loneliness that I think anybody can relate to. Truly a masterpiece of cinema.
I think Andrew Haigh said people had expressed similar thoughts to him and he hadn't thought of it like that but that he wanted people to believe what they wanted to believe about it all. I read it after watching it and was quite surprised that he hadn't considered people would draw this conclusion...like you say, the imagery was there. The fire alarm, him feeling hot, the coughing, the screaming, the image out the window...I thought exactly the same that this was what they were hinting at. I suppose though, if it was all a fire, then the Harry storyline doesn't really make sense because why show his death from alcohol and drugs, lying undiscovered for days all because Adam didn't let him in after the fire alarm. Haigh at least did confirm Harry was alive when he came to the door. Whether Adam is dead or alive, is up to the viewer to choose as far as Haigh seemed concerned.
@@jner7149 Thank you for that, I was wondering what Haigh thought of the "fire theory" / if it was intended that way. I don't like the thought of it, cause it would mean Adam lost his parents as a child, lived a lonely life, never fell in love and then died alone in a fire. That's just cruel
I'm straight and found this film really touching I don't normally watch these kinds of videos but it was interesting to see this perspective a lot of the things you said gave me a deeper understanding as people of this community
I guess I grew up at the same time as the main character. The details of that time were just chefs' kiss perfect. I loved this film. I watched it last night, and i still keep feeling waves of emotions about the experience. Really, this is a film that feels like it is directly speakjng to me. A triumph.
As a not queer gran from South Africa have to say your review was heartwarming. I absolutely loved this movie, everything from script, mood, premise, acting. The two main leads were astonishing but Andrew Scott is mesmerising.
What I took was that he died in the fire in the beginning. That's why he was coughing and kept being hot. He couldn't move on until he learned that love is the most important part of his human experience.
@@hansolo3504he means the other character. He is constantly with fever and coughing. In the train he even has to sit because he was in a real bad shape. I think he is also dying alone in his apartment. Coming in terms with his parents the neighbor who has passed and now both become light, coming in terms with their ghosts hunting them
Probably one of the best reaction videos I’ve ever watched - both of you are so true to yourselves in allowing the raw portrayal of your emotional reaction. The film itself, of course, is a masterpiece.
Thanks for letting me watch this again with you both. Saw it in the theatre in January and ugly cried then - it’s such a masterpiece. Having your emotional and intelligent commentary along with it was really a treat
Regarding the coming out scene to his mother, and you already touched upon it but it’s all his inner dialogue, a visualization of trauma of that generation! Such a punch in the gut. I went into this screening with a couple of colleagues and we were all wrecked by the end and totally out of it for the next couple of days. This gets under your skin and stays there. Extraordinary storytelling and performances!
Just watched the film and was consistently blown away by so many scenes, including during my WTF reaction at the end…& then immediately came here to watch your coverage of it. Such fantastic writing, all the acting was terrific, especially Scott, omfg.
I purposefully did not watch this in the cinema because I knew I was going to be a wreck. For some reason when his dad says "I probably would've bullied you too" stayed with me for a long time after watching. Your parents are fully fledged people with their own lives before you come along. You're born, part of the queer community and not only do you challenge what society says is normal, but your parents now question societal norms and how they have grown up/their actions. It's an odd experience when you grow up and hear your family use words like poof, homo or fag, or archetypes like "I wonder who is the man and who's the woman in the relationship" and then after you come out you can feel them catching themselves or holding their tongues. I think that scene with the father is my favourite scene in the movie because it is just honest, brutally honest. And with queer movies in the past, I know people say "this is a gay movie but aimed at straight women" or something like that - but this is a movie that everyone should watch. It is aimed at everyone. It is important.
I have been looking forward to watching this again with you. I saw it at the cinema on Tuesday with a friend. I haven’t been so moved by a film for a very long time. So many layers. So many tears! Just beautiful. Heartbreaking but beautiful.
I’m a straight person and I loved this movie so much. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, romantic and sexy. I am the same age as Andrew. I have queer friends and it hurts my heart when I think about anything cruel they have endured because of ignorance and hate. Everyone should see this movie. As Andrew says “Prejudice doesn’t survive proximity.” So glad I watched your reaction, it gives me insight into things that just wouldn’t occur to me as a straight person. Well done. Love from Canada ❤
As someone who was diagnosed with severe complex PTSD last year, this film is the most accurate depiction of trauma that I've ever seen in media. I find it very interesting how it explores trauma within the queer community through the characters of Adam and Harry. It could definitely be argued that when Adam is seeing his parents, he has entered a dissociative state, which is a very real trauma response and coping mechanism. Also, it is very accurate in the way that it depicts people with trauma and how common it is for them to fall into substance abuse as a coping strategy.
This is by far Andrew Haigh's best film to date. I considered "Weekend" one of my absolute favorite gay films ever (which he directed) but "All of Us Strangers" has by far surpassed it.
Just watched it in the cinema 1 hour ago, I don't want to let go of it, loved it, so I went to youtube looking for people who did any reactions or reviews :DD Lovely reaction!
I saw it a few weeks ago and was stuck in my seat for at least 15 minutes afterwards! A truly sublime film! Also the film was directed by Andrew Haigh who wrote and directed Looking, so awkward gay stuff is his thing. Have you ever seen Weekend?. If not, you should! P.s you made me cry damn you!
Watched this with my wife the other evening - I think it's such a powerful film for a variety of reasons and has many elements to which one can relate to. Being parents to a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old there were a few scenes which absolutely destroyed me emotionally. Particularly with Adam and his mother in bed... tragic. And that final scene, that last reveal was just devestating... what a beautiful film
this movie shattered my heart and im still not healed 😭 the way the end scene explain the whole thing harry said whilst drunk in the beginning had me sobbing 😢😢6
Fun watching this film with you guys. As a GenX'er, it surprising to see how you guys reacted to the scene he came out to his mom. He sumed up my feelings as just "everything is different now, Mom". I never thought younger gens would think too much about it and all the awkwardness of it. I guess I was wrong.
Every time I watch a clip of the final scene, I ugly cry. I can see myself in Harry so much. When I'm gone, I wish no part of me has to stick around in anxious despair for someone to find my body.
This film resonates with me as a gay man but I think it’s even more deep as a film about confronting grief and trauma. I lost my mom 2 years ago and the last scene with his parents just really stuck with me. I couldn’t get the image of the last time I spoke with my mom out of my mind. It’s a haunting reminder of the hole in the world that her death caused for me. A hole that can never be filled. I can never again talk to her about my 4 year old son or my husband or my life. She is forever frozen in time. It’s just an impossible thing to process. This film was incredible showing this.
Thank you for providing a platform for the representation I never saw and for showing the joy, laughter, hope, sadness and pain and showcasing the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ+ experience. Thank you for not shying away from the difficult parts but equally embracing and sharing the joyful moments. From one end of the spectrum of heartstopper to this, it is all so important and so appreciated. The only narratives I did see were coming out stories often with negative outcomes so seeing such an incredible constellation of the Queer experience has been truly life affirming and laughing along and crying with you both has really made experiencing all these forms of representation all the more impactful.
It took me weeks to recover from this movie. It's the loudest collective sobbing I've ever heard in a theatre, we were all a mess & no one got up until the credits were over.
sat in the cinema until the credits had finished just staring at the screen. had absolutely no words to explain how i felt, this movie is so incredibly beautiful and emotional. your reactions and conversations brought me back to that!
Hey guys! I am glad I found you. I am an old Gay man, most of my friends have passed on. Now I have two new young Gay men in my life (so to speak). Thanks for sharing your reactions to the film. I watched it alone, I missed some of it. Loved seeing your emotions. Thanks again.
A long time ago I read a book by Taichi Yamada and it blew my mind. Even gifted it to people. I didn't realize until just before I watched it that this film is also bases on one of his books. I'm so happy I did though because I knew to be guided by my feelings instead of logic. It's what makes it work so beautifully. What's most masterful about this film for me though is that unlike many great filmmakers who take on a Japanese work and somehow never quite succeed in conveying the right atmosphere and feel and other elements that I can't quite verbalise, this film managed to get that special vibe about it while still making it appealing to a Western audience and, and in such a way that it is both relatable to them and deeply affects them. I liked watching this review because I could see in real time how. I also enjoyed seeing that we felt the same about many parts of the film although we didn't quite guess what was going to happen at the same time. You caught on to a few things well before I did 😅 I must say, I really appreciated hearing some of your thoughts too. You somehow always have something deep or meaningful to say which either makes me feel deeply understood or offers me a new perspective. So happy I found you. One more reason to be thankful to Fellow Travelers, it seems.
@@zanyzander Its great. I own all three of those on blu-ray. Criterion is putting out a blu-ray disk for All Of Us Strangers. Of course this wasn't announced until after I bought a copy from the UK where they have it on disk, unlike here in the US where it has only been streaming until the Criterion comes out in Sept.
Great analysis, guys. Loved it. Ugnnnnn, those wrong subtitles were driving me insane while we were watching it, and they’re still pissing me off. Some of them are hilariously wrong.
Needed to see others go through the waves and emotions of this film. I just saw it yesterday at the cinema. And that ending my gosh. Thank you for sharing ❤
I tend to agree that love feels different to different people especially those that have gone through childhood trauma like Adam. He doesn’t have self love because it literally wasn’t shown or valued. We are all capable of feeling love but if it’s not modeled or shown it’s incredibly difficult for it to feel grounded and real. Love isn’t concrete it’s different for everyone because as you said the journey is different for everyone. Love is part of it but doesn’t show consistently for everyone
Andrew Haigh also did a great job with weekend which touches on some similar themes of being afraid of sex, not being able to tell parents and finding someone to talk about your experiences with. There are some parallels with the ways he shot both films and he certainly knows how to make audiences cry. Andrew Scott is always amazing but did so great here. I also really liked Jamie Bell's performance and loved the soundtrack.
I think love is an amplified emotional connection to other person. Like when he is happy - you are 100 times happier, and when he is sad you are devastated.
I've watched "All of Us Strangers" several times. At first, I felt there were two separate stories. The first concerns Adam's strange meeting and developing relationship with Harry. It's fantastic how both men live in a modern London high-rise that appears otherwise unoccupied. (I'm reminded of the first film version of "West Side Story" in which Tony and Maria see one another on the crowded dance floor of the gym; suddenly no one else seems to exist.) Equally fantastic is the story of Adam's finding himself in a universe with his dead parents, alive again, younger than he is now. Suddenly I could see the connection between both stories. Adam's emotional growth had ended with his parents' death when he was twelve. Now, in his forties, this miraculous reunion with his father and mother provides closure and enables Adam's emotions to be born again as well. Harry needs both the love and protection that Adam can finally provide.
I just found this beautiful movie in 2024. I watched it three days ago and have not been able to get it out of my mind. So I decided to do some research online. Watching your take on it was one of the better critiques I could find. I’m a 59 year old female. I’ve lost both my parents and my husband. I could relate 100% with this movie, the grief and loneliness. The want for connection and acceptance. The sex scenes were beautiful and I feel important for all people to see romantic love in all forms. The title is intriguing. To me it means, even though we’re all strangers. We all just need love. I love you all.❤
I just watched this move a few days ago. And now that I’m almost recovered, I decided to find reactions to it. Thank you for this beautiful reaction. The gut punch at the end when we find out Harry has been dead since the first night he visited Adam’s apartment… (yes viewers have questioned if that was the case, it is as confirmed by the director. And yes Adam is alive, not also a ghost)… was so devastating. I cried for a whole night.
Been watching your reactions since Fellow Travellers - though I sometimes disagree about everything being 'queer presentation' and think it's more about yknow just human shit (I'm pan myself), I loved watching you because I do feel like I belong to this community somewhat. I'm single up to now and had several flirts with being in love (most recently confessed to someone and got rejected), but none ended up in a relationship - recently watching both FT and this film weirdly gave me more hope that someone would love me for who I am. I know it's hard, but it's worth the wait and effort. Watching miserable stuff can be really cathartic and kinda proves the point that I'm well loved compared to some of the characters - I'm very fortunate to be able to love and be loved. If you strangers on the Internet see this, you have my love as well
the more it think about this film to paraphrase 'Greif is the cost of love' and the twist was forshadowed by Harry's silence in the lift when Adam says he'll like a drink now...
FYI, in a few weeks Criterion will be putting out a blu-ray for this movie. Presale is available now. No I don't work for them. I just love the hell out of this movie
![KSI - Thick Of It (feat. Trippie Redd) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/At8v_Yc044Y/mqdefault.jpg)
It is absolutely criminal how this film and Andrew Scott in particular have been largely ignored by a lot of awards bodies. He shouldn't just have an Oscar nomination, he should be at the top of the list to win it this year.
Absolutely agreed.
True!
This is injustice! Such a brilliant actor!
It’s also criminal it’s not being released on DVD or Blu Ray as the distribution company say they will only allow streaming. This is such an insult to the gay community and potential audiences everywhere who would like a copy of one of the few films that does not stereotype gay people and is so wonderfully, written, directed and acted of course.
Yes, it's the best performance of the year for sure.
This is why I will support queer creatives as much as I can because I feel like for some time to come still only we can have each other's back.
I want them to keep telling our stories and clearly even when we have achieved so much better than a lot of the films that are nominated, they will be the ones that will get to go home with all the prizes and recognition. Nothing has upset me more this year during the awards season than the way this film and Fellow Travelers got robbed. 🥺😔
This movie just broke me..
"How come no one found me"😢😢 this line will haunt me forever
That part was heartbreaking. So bloody sad 😭
" How come no one found me? "
😭😭😭
Omg that broke my heart💔💔😢😢
Poor Harry 😢🥺😭😭😭
The way I immediately started audibly sobbing in the theaters at this part…
I was bawling my eyes out at this part omgg 😭
Crushed. My. Soul. 😭😭😭
31, gay man here.
I live a pretty isolated life.
My mom died back in February and my dad died in 2020. Lately, I’ve been having conversations with them in my head to get their advice on things, often imagining conversations with them sitting at my kitchen table or in my living rooms.
That movie made me feel seen not only with my grief, but with my struggles with depression and loneliness. It almost felt like it was made for me.
Thank you for your interpretation on this beautiful film.
Edit: thank you all for the beautiful messages. I come back here from time to time to read them. Thank you for sharing your stories and reaching out to console. It’s good to know there are good people in the world out there that can empathize ❤️
Love to all of you.
You're not alone
I hope u find a nice man mate
@@xzxzxccxzcw2028 thank you, all the best to you ❤️
Hey bud! Just wanted to say that the movie also shows to acknowledge all your past and traumas and move on from it as well❤Please try your best to recover from it soon and live your life to the fullest. I hope you start socializing and take help from counselors! I wish you All The VERY Best in life and hope that you find a great partner and friends in future 🫂
~lots of virtual hugs ,support and well wishes!❤️
@@kimjunguwu4304 you are absolutely correct. It has been a couple months and I have had time to process and talk it out with several people, including my counselor. While the movie does highlight some pretty key issues I’ve dealt with personally, to your point, it’s super important to keep in mind that healing/confronting your past in a pathway to healing is a key element of this story as well. Especially when healing and understanding your grief can allow you to be a supportive and empathetic friend and partner to those that may need us just as much as we need them, as we witnessed at the end of the movie.
Thank you for saying something and for your very kind words. All the virtual hugs and well wishes back to you, my friend ❤️
Harry saying: "How come no one found me?" might be the Sadest and yet Truest thing a Queer person has ever said.
That it is the relatable to so many of us is what shatters my heart. I often think about that in my own private life. 🥺
@@i.t.t. Yeah, it really just hits you right in the Heart. But I'm sending you a HUGE Hug all the way from Denmark! 🤗 I hope it helps just a teeny bit. Take care ❤🩹
To Any person really i also lived half my 20s by myself alone and almost burn down my place twice and the first tough trough my mind was if i die would anyone be sad or missed me ?
To Any person really i also lived half my 20s by myself alone and almost burn down my place twice and the first tough trough my mind was if i die would anyone be sad or missed me ?
@@juliafloreshernandez6854 🥰Have a Hug! 🥰 from me to you!!
The relationship between Adam and Harry is the same as the relationship between Adam and his parents, so you could say they are "ghosts".
Harry died at the night after they first met.If only Adam had been brave enough to invite Harry into his apartment maybe he would still be alive.
Poor Harry died in loneliness waiting for someone to find his body.
I tought Harry died after going to visit Adam... this comment make it worse omg
wait, what!!!
Yes, his clothes are the same, and his body is decomposed a lot @@sammygogo1659
The more I think about the film, the more I think that Adam is dead as well.
@@erics1140 He's not dead..Because he's the only one the waiter can see when he's at the restaurant with his parents and when he ordered menu family special the waiter said that the portion was too much for 1 person.
He stole our hearts in Normal people, Now again in All of us strangers
Todavía no superó Normal People😭😭😭😭 y ahora con All of Us Strangers
Also Aftersun. His best work
@@millmaster413 ahora que esta en Netflix ire a verla, pero con pañuelitos si, sé que voy a llorar nuevamente jajaja
okay but that poses the question of what we deem queer sex is 12:00
It is romantic sometimes just like how any ither sex is romantic
I loved the connection with Harry's 'There's vampires at my door' at the beginning of the film and Adam's soft whisper, '[I'll] keep the vampires from your door' at the end of the film.
And it's also a part of the lyrics of 'The power of love' by the way...
I loved it so clever. ❤
This was soooo poetic and storytelling at its best! When you can bring something back from the beginning and have it make a new meaning/impact by the end of the film. Loved this song before but I won't be able to listen to it and not think of this now. Hauntingly beautiful ❤
Just watched this review again, months later, still tears, and how you guys discuss and emotionally engage with the movie , I felt like we were watching it together.
I just missed holding someone's hand while watching that ....
I feel this movie is able to trigger every human person, because it touches the universal subject of loneliness, and the subject-fear of dying without anyone noticing. What is one of the cruelest, but realistal thing which happens unfortunately. This is the second time I watch the movie, and I still cry deeply at that moment.
Thank you for your wonderfully sensitive reactions. You guys really surpassed yourselves! I've seen All Of Us Strangers twice in the theater now, and as a 75-year-old gay man I have to say that it is truly one of the most moving and profound films centered on our experience that I've ever had the good fortune to see. (Andrew Haigh is pretty much my favorite film director for everything he's done, and of course particularly Weekend and Looking.) I'm particularly grateful that you both make the effort to see beyond dualities of sad/happy, black/white, etc. because life encompasses both great joy and great sorrow, and because as human beings we have the CHOICE, moment to moment, to open our hearts to LOVE -- both giving and receiving it. I hope those who watch your commentary, and who haven't yet seen the film, will go see it. Thank you again, and BE WELL.
I think the moment where Adam's dad says "I love you more, somehow, now that I know you" is the most beautiful thing. Because thats the point of coming out. Knowing someone is essential to loving them fully. What a great film!
In case no one has mentioned it yet, I think Adam was probably dead the whole time as well (lmao, sorry). There are many references to fire throughout the whole movie, but the most telling ones in my opinion are the fire alarm at the beginning (with Harry saying 'it will be real one of these days'), and Adam being hot throughout the movie and coughing a lot when he's upset (when they first kiss he also says he forgot to breathe etc.), so I think he died in a fire in his building. Also the whole vibe of the film is really giving purgatory in my opinion with the editing and sound design and just the whole disorienting structure, plus some other small things, like Adam waking up and asking 'how is it still Sunday?' So in my interpretation Adam and Harry are both something like ghosts who can't move on until they find each other and help each other heal :)
Gosh 😮😭😭😭😭
Siiiii, re-viendo a peli, tambien pienso que Adam muere en algun momento y creo que lo que dices es tremendamente acertado...yo pensé en algun momento al volver a ver la peli que fue en la fiesta, donde se ve solo, que ahi debe haber muerto de sobredosis o algo asi, pero siiii, Adam con fiebre durante la peli y lo otro que comentas, tiene mucho mas sentido....
I was trying to figure out that throughline with him being feverish all the time, I totally buy this lol
My thoughts exactly !!!! Adam had to be dead also for them to become a beautiful star together ... I felt joy for Adam getting time with his parents and finding love with Harry....
Not possible, because the waitress sees him in the diner when he's saying goodbye to his parents. That's why she's mildly surprised that he orders the family special.
You two coped better than me, i nearly had to be carried out of the cinema, i cried whole way home, all the next day, my straight son cried, didnt sleep that night and cried the whole next day, this film should have gotten every award going, its the best film iv seen in a few years kudas to both actors, love andrew scott ❤❤❤❤ xx
I can’t listen to The Power of Love without crying in the corner anymore.
I'm a couple of years older than Adam, and relate so hard to the movie. One of the things that I think is harder for younger generations to understand, is the extent to which being gay was only ever defined in terms of sex for so many, despite our internal sense that it's about love, hence the dislocation and uncertainty around "am I in love?"
That, coupled with the knowledge that sex was fatal; I do not miss the 80s.
Said exactly what I was thinking: I'm Gen X, and intimacy seemed about sex=disease=death in the 80s/90s and not true love, note Adam's mother saying "it will be such a hard life." Actually, I never recovered from the trauma.
@@zzzaaayyynnn it's not too late for us! ☺️♥️
@@YoungIskander let's hope haha
i recently watched an interview with claire foy and andrew scott on a podcast, and claire said something so insightful about how when a parent dies before their child, not only doesnthe child miss out on having that parent, but that the parent also misses out on seeing their child grow up. i’m absolutely butchering her eloquent way of wording things, but that statement made me want to cry.
There's no cinema like gay cinema
10:00 yes, it was directed by a queer person (and i agree, it showed) and more than that, andrew haigh used elements of his life to create this movie; btw all of us strangers was shot in the actually childhood house where andrew haigh lived
In Croydon!
Watched it again with you guys. Adam is a screenwriter and he wrote a play to get through his past trauma. When he’s ready to love, and go looking for Harry. Harry passed away from alcohol and overdose that night when Adam denied him company. Sad sad story. 😭
I watched this on a plane and the tears just didn't stop flowing out. I couldn't do anything but look into the screen and just go through the journey and cry almost the whole movie. It was both mesmerizing and so, so sad. I saw myself in it; it touched a place in my heart I didn't know was THIS tender. Thanks for helping me relive it!
Me too!! I plan on watching again on my return home. I will ensure the tissues are to hand.
this film is truly one of the best films I've seen in a long time and had me crying throughout it and hit so close to home in many ways.
I was able to see this in a theater about a month ago and it is still with me. I was almost disappointed that I didn’t have a more immediate reaction in the theater. But when I got to my car, it started hitting me in waves. And continues to now. This film is so impactful and mature in the way it deals with and what it says about loss, grief, depression and loneliness. Truly the best picture of 2023. That it got completely snubbed by the Academy is truly criminal.
This was my favourite film of 2023. Between this, Fellow Travelers, Heartstopper, Good Grief, and to a lesser extent even Red, White & Royal Blue (happy romcom focused on a gay relationship for once), gay media has been really helping me heal my trauma lately. It's allowing me to confront it and see what I didn't get in my own experience and to see what I needed. All of Us Strangers destroyed me the first time. I saw it with a full audience at the cinema and had to try and stifle ugly crying. All of the conversations he has with his parents could have been lifted from my own life. My parents are still alive but my coming out isn't something we ever really talk about and I had to figure out so much on my own. I got bullied and picked on growing up for many years by so many of my classmates. Over time it started to change me and family members noticed but nobody said anything or helped. That conversation he has with his dad and when his dad says "sorry I never came into your room when you were crying" and the way his voice breaks, I needed to hear that for myself, I was welling up in that moment. My mother had a bit of that AIDS fear that Adam's mother had, same kind of worries about what life would be like for me, both parents emotionally absent. The final conversation he has with them at the diner, hearing his dad say he was proud of him for making it through and then the way his mom says "such a kind and gentle boy", people have referred to me that way, it hit me so hard, I was crying so hard at that point. So many things said that I needed to hear. When the film was over, the crowd in the theatre took awhile to get up and start exiting, everyone was just kind of in this stunned emotional silence. I would have maybe changed the ending, maybe have Adam and Harry together as these 2 lonely people that found each other in this world.
I was anxious to see your reactions, since I spent two hours staring into space after I finished seeing this at the movies. And I would listen to Andrew Scott reading the phone book and he deserved every award in the book for this performance.
This is such a devastating and beautiful film! I saw it in the theater and was just speechless afterward. One thing that really knocked me sideways was when his dad basically told him if he'd been a kid at his school he'd have probably bullied him. Sometimes a kids parents are their first bullies, and it's rarely been discussed so openly before, I think. I dunno, that whole scene really stuck with me, including when his dad apologized for not coming in his room when he was crying. I would give anything to hear my parents say they were sorry for certain parts of my upbringing. This whole movie was so powerful. It deserves all the awards!
Such a beautiful movie. Broke my heart. The end when you realize that Harry had died the first night and could have been saved if Adam let him in just broke me. The most amazing performances and am absolutely fuming that the movie and performances were not nominated for Oscars.
I love how you both immediately just got this film, but what I find most impressive is that you were able to speak coherently afterwords. I was speechless for a long ass time after that ended. We drove home from the theater trying to talk about it but sobbing all over again 😂 grateful for you two ❤️
This is my number 1 film of 2024. I saw it 3 x at the cinema in one week. And this is the best RUclips reaction to it.
Andrew Haigh director screenwriter was behind Looking.
I didn't cry at the ending when I first saw it the other day. Not because I wasn't affected, more because I was so affected I was past the point of being able to cry. As a straight woman, I can't relate in the same way to the LGBTQ+ element, even though I can have very strong feelings for it...but this film had so much more than just that. It was relatable in so many ways, so close to home. I agree with Alex that love isn't always an easy emotion to understand or recognise, i've had many times in my life where I have thought I don't know if what i'm feeling is love because i'm not sure I know what love feels like. No one can tell you what love is, I suppose, because its going to be unique to that person, but that doesn't help you when you can't recognise it in yourself. And for me, not recognising what loving someone feels like has made it very hard to understand how it feels to be loved by someone else. I sobbed through this reaction video, which was very much needed after being hit so hard by the film on first watch, so thank you.
Loved this reaction.
The whole cinema was quietly crying by the end of this when I went to see it.
It is just so beautifully tender and Andrew Scott conveys that so brilliantly. I can't believe he didn't get a Bafta nomination.
From the time that this film was first advertised, I knew that his parents were dead. I never realized that his neighbor past that first scene was a ghost as well. Wow. Everyone gave outstanding performances, but Andrew Scott's was so many level's above everyone else's I think.
CIS Straight guy here, not to mention huge cinema watcher - If this isn't in my top 3 of 2024, it will have been a miraculous year for cinema!
Your last conversation really made me tear up. Your channel is so so important and needs even more recognition than it already has!!! I’m sure a lot of people seek hope and find it in your channel….I sure do!!
Thank you Alex and Josh
#youareloved
I’m slowly coming out as a bisexual man.
I have also lost my mom tragically and it took me 9 years to accept the fact I never told her that I enjoyed the company of both men and women.
It’s been a very lonely life for me, I’m only 28 and I feel as if I already died. But reality hit me a month ago and I said, “I’m ready to start a new life.”
I’m prepared to lose my friends, my religion, and even my way. But man I can’t wait to be free
This movie made me cry and feel so seen
Really moved by this message. You are not alone. Peace, look after yourself, and know that you are seen by others too.
@@14478100 thank you 🙏 I really do appreciate it.
Yours is a brave, raw and honest reaction, to this film. I wish you all the best, on your journey. The world deserves to know you.
@@sinceslicedbread7422 I’m been pondering this comment all week
I truly appreciate it
@@chedderman101 You're welcome 😊
As someone who lost the parents last year and didn't come out to them. this movie was a shock. I had to pause it so so many times because I was crying so hard I couldn't keep going. The idea of seeing and talking to your parents are a dream come true and to say goodbye to them again to going on is a nightmare. I must say after this movie I back to rails and start taking care of myself again. It helped me to get out of a hole I was trapped and graving myself into it. Today I watched it again, come to this video and saw this beautiful reaction... Unfortunately this is the only place I (and many of us) can be ourselves... Specially when you didn't come out yet... This still can be a lonely way of living but I appreciate places like this exist
Hugs ❤
❤
This not just a great LGTB film. It is a great film, period. You do not have to be gay to take a lot from this piece. It's simply an astounding piece of work.
The turnaround for this movie? EXPRESS TRAIN LEVEL 1000. I’ve been impatient about watching this too.
Choo! Choo!
oooooh we're in for a ride...
this movie hit too close to home i literally am still picking myself up after watching it
We were in bits!
I watched this film with my sister and father- we were all sobbing by the end, but each of us for completely different emotional reasons. I think that’s what’s beautiful about this film- it heals so many things for so many different experiences 😢
This movie broke me. Such an incredibly powerful story of love and loss. I expected nothing less with Andrew Haig at the helm. He’s such a talented filmmaker. Loved seeing your reactions to it. You guys are the best. ❤️ from CT, USA
Not me crying at this again...I don't know how I managed to keep it more together in the cinema! As a queer person who is often lonely this really resonated with me. Absolutely beautiful film.
Yeah as someone who Maladaptively daydreams I related to this movie a LOT... As it really really seems like that is what the main character is doing... Obviously his daydreams are significantly more detailed and life-like than mine, most of the time... But if I get high on weed my daydreams get significantly more vivid. To the point where I can absolutely start crying because of whatever sad thing is happening in them. Most of the time my daydreams are pleasant...but not always... just like the main charater. Yeah I don't know if that was the intention of the writer ...but that's really what looked like was happening to me very intense daydreams and dissociation.
This movie brings out all the "baggage" that you didn't know you were carrying,makes you hear words that you didn't know that you needed to hear,reminds you of all the things you needed for yourself but forgot about,all words you want to say but can't get out but knowing that this movie touched so many people and really exquisitely depicts the life experiences that we all go through as queer or not but never really get to say outloud because of shame or whatever and it really dived deep into queer experiences that no lqgbt content that i know of has manage to depict so beautifully. Really loved it❤❤❤
Watching this movie in a fine arts theater was just heart wrenching. So many people openly crying and sobbing. A beautiful film for sure. ANDREW SCOTT is brilliant. I'm glad you guys did this important film.
I saw this a few weeks ago, and I keep going back to it, thinking about it, watching interviews with the cast and creators. Just such a powerful important film. I'm a straight female (and a mum) and I saw it with my fiancee, we were both just so blown away by it. We both got in the car in silence and then he played the power of love while we drove home. I lay awake that night just processing the whole film. Truly haven't had a film affect me so much in a long time.
The performances were sublime, each of the four cast members deserves to be recognised for their work in this film, and Andrew Scott particularly was just everything. He's so subtle and yet every movement and inflection carries weight. Paul Mescal was heartbreaking and the parents, wow! Particularly as a parent I just crumbled watching them.
The writer/director has truly created the most unusual and lingering piece of work here. You can tell the whole film in sprinkled in his life's experiences and the ability for him to trust his cast so implicitly (for very evident reason) and not rely on jumpy cuts etc and rather just simple direction gives this an even more realistic feel which allows the viewers to be pulled in even more.
I had a creeping apprehension that Harry was similar to the parents. I started to get quite uneasy when Adam woke up in his childhood home in the kids pyjamas as initially the print looked like a hospital robe to me. It dawned on me that there was more to come and him preparing to say goodbye to his parents again was going to echo with Harry too. When he got out of the elevator I knew what he would find and just whispered "no, no, no" apparently. I didn't know how else to cope.
I feel that Adam was actually dead too, in some kind of waiting room/purgatory, that he was destined to meet Harry and they both help each other. There are lots of instances of red light being used, him living high up above everyone else, mentions of him supposed to be in the car, him not seeing his mum when she woke up/after the accident, his unawareness of time in a way, him in an otherwise empty building. These two had to fall in love to heal, it didn't matter if it was in this life or not. Perhaps I have read too much into it, but I can't decide if he dies as a child or later as a result of all the trauma he has dealt with.
I want to see it again to understand it more, but I'm not sure I can manage that just yet.
It was so important to hear your point of view and your commentary about just how important some of the story was in a way I can understand but not fully relate to and it helped my understanding of the film even more. Thank you.
I agree with you, only I think Adam died in a fire, part way through the film (there are various mentions of him being hot and him coughing frequently). I think his ghost found Harry's body and that they decide to be together, forever.
Theory with spoilers: if it makes you feel better, my take is Adam died in a fire. The comments about him being hot. The fire alarm. No one else in the buildings but a dead guy. Both in the light at the end of the tunnel. So they get to be together. See, a happy ending.
But that would mean Adam lost his parents as a child, lived a lonely life without ever falling in love and then dying alone in a fire. That's not a happy ending for me :( He deserved happiness while being alive, not just once he's reached purgatory/the afterlife/whatever.
@@xxjeait's interesting how this movie was made by a gay person and yet the gays die lonely after having lived sad lives. if the creator was straight everyone would be calling it BYG
No, he didn't die.
Because he can still be seen by the waiter and order the food when he is at a restaurant with his parents(ghost).
I agree Adam died in a fire, right at the beginning of the film. All the characters are ghosts. Adam did get a happy ending he and Harry got to spend eternity together, in the sky.
That feeling of coming out to your parents in your mind multiple times like test runs, and having the version of your parents in your mind be accepting and willing to learn more about you. Only to see the exact opposite in real life, oof. Can't wait to watch this for myself!
I've loved Andrew Haigh ever since I watched Weekend and Looking, but this film really is something else.
Personally I think Adam is dying throughout the film and that's how he can see "ghosts". If you look at some of the imagery used it stronly invokes fire. And then of course there's the fire alarm at the beginning of the film and Harry saying "one day that alarm's gonna be for real" during their first meeting. Adam being hot and not being able to breathe at various points in the film. And then like you commented that shot where out his window you see what look like sirens, but maybe are the club lights.. And then of course at the end they become a star, which also suggests to me they're both dead at that point.
I'm not yet sure if that interpretation makes me feel better or worse though. But I think this film is such a beautiful exploration of grief and loneliness that I think anybody can relate to. Truly a masterpiece of cinema.
I think Andrew Haigh said people had expressed similar thoughts to him and he hadn't thought of it like that but that he wanted people to believe what they wanted to believe about it all. I read it after watching it and was quite surprised that he hadn't considered people would draw this conclusion...like you say, the imagery was there. The fire alarm, him feeling hot, the coughing, the screaming, the image out the window...I thought exactly the same that this was what they were hinting at. I suppose though, if it was all a fire, then the Harry storyline doesn't really make sense because why show his death from alcohol and drugs, lying undiscovered for days all because Adam didn't let him in after the fire alarm. Haigh at least did confirm Harry was alive when he came to the door. Whether Adam is dead or alive, is up to the viewer to choose as far as Haigh seemed concerned.
@@jner7149 Thank you for that, I was wondering what Haigh thought of the "fire theory" / if it was intended that way. I don't like the thought of it, cause it would mean Adam lost his parents as a child, lived a lonely life, never fell in love and then died alone in a fire. That's just cruel
@@xxjeaNot cruel, just tragic.
I'm straight and found this film really touching I don't normally watch these kinds of videos but it was interesting to see this perspective a lot of the things you said gave me a deeper understanding as people of this community
I guess I grew up at the same time as the main character. The details of that time were just chefs' kiss perfect. I loved this film. I watched it last night, and i still keep feeling waves of emotions about the experience. Really, this is a film that feels like it is directly speakjng to me. A triumph.
I don't know if you've seen Weekend by the same Andrew Haigh, but you'll like its rawness (it will also break your heart)
As a not queer gran from South Africa have to say your review was heartwarming. I absolutely loved this movie, everything from script, mood, premise, acting. The two main leads were astonishing but Andrew Scott is mesmerising.
What I took was that he died in the fire in the beginning. That's why he was coughing and kept being hot. He couldn't move on until he learned that love is the most important part of his human experience.
This! I keep going back and forth about if and when he could possibly have died. The beginning. That’s what I missed.
No I think he was upset that he was rejected so he went back to his apartment and overdosed. That’s what I got from it
@@hansolo3504he means the other character. He is constantly with fever and coughing. In the train he even has to sit because he was in a real bad shape. I think he is also dying alone in his apartment. Coming in terms with his parents the neighbor who has passed and now both become light, coming in terms with their ghosts hunting them
Probably one of the best reaction videos I’ve ever watched - both of you are so true to yourselves in allowing the raw portrayal of your emotional reaction. The film itself, of course, is a masterpiece.
Alex is a screenwriter finally confronting his grief over the death of his parents and making it into a cathartic screenplay.
I finished it and stared at the wall sobbing for like 30 minutes. This fucked me up so hard
(Cue Josh declaring he’d watch Andrew Scott do anything)
Thanks for letting me watch this again with you both. Saw it in the theatre in January and ugly cried then - it’s such a masterpiece. Having your emotional and intelligent commentary along with it was really a treat
Regarding the coming out scene to his mother, and you already touched upon it but it’s all his inner dialogue, a visualization of trauma of that generation! Such a punch in the gut. I went into this screening with a couple of colleagues and we were all wrecked by the end and totally out of it for the next couple of days. This gets under your skin and stays there. Extraordinary storytelling and performances!
Just watched the film and was consistently blown away by so many scenes, including during my WTF reaction at the end…& then immediately came here to watch your coverage of it. Such fantastic writing, all the acting was terrific, especially Scott, omfg.
This movie wracked me and left me scarred for life.
I purposefully did not watch this in the cinema because I knew I was going to be a wreck. For some reason when his dad says "I probably would've bullied you too" stayed with me for a long time after watching. Your parents are fully fledged people with their own lives before you come along. You're born, part of the queer community and not only do you challenge what society says is normal, but your parents now question societal norms and how they have grown up/their actions. It's an odd experience when you grow up and hear your family use words like poof, homo or fag, or archetypes like "I wonder who is the man and who's the woman in the relationship" and then after you come out you can feel them catching themselves or holding their tongues. I think that scene with the father is my favourite scene in the movie because it is just honest, brutally honest.
And with queer movies in the past, I know people say "this is a gay movie but aimed at straight women" or something like that - but this is a movie that everyone should watch. It is aimed at everyone. It is important.
I have been looking forward to watching this again with you. I saw it at the cinema on Tuesday with a friend. I haven’t been so moved by a film for a very long time.
So many layers. So many tears! Just beautiful. Heartbreaking but beautiful.
I’m a straight person and I loved this movie so much. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, romantic and sexy. I am the same age as Andrew. I have queer friends and it hurts my heart when I think about anything cruel they have endured because of ignorance and hate. Everyone should see this movie. As Andrew says “Prejudice doesn’t survive proximity.” So glad I watched your reaction, it gives me insight into things that just wouldn’t occur to me as a straight person. Well done. Love from Canada ❤
As someone who was diagnosed with severe complex PTSD last year, this film is the most accurate depiction of trauma that I've ever seen in media. I find it very interesting how it explores trauma within the queer community through the characters of Adam and Harry. It could definitely be argued that when Adam is seeing his parents, he has entered a dissociative state, which is a very real trauma response and coping mechanism. Also, it is very accurate in the way that it depicts people with trauma and how common it is for them to fall into substance abuse as a coping strategy.
This is by far Andrew Haigh's best film to date. I considered "Weekend" one of my absolute favorite gay films ever (which he directed) but "All of Us Strangers" has by far surpassed it.
Just watched it in the cinema 1 hour ago, I don't want to let go of it, loved it, so I went to youtube looking for people who did any reactions or reviews :DD Lovely reaction!
I saw it a few weeks ago and was stuck in my seat for at least 15 minutes afterwards! A truly sublime film! Also the film was directed by Andrew Haigh who wrote and directed Looking, so awkward gay stuff is his thing. Have you ever seen Weekend?. If not, you should!
P.s you made me cry damn you!
Watched this with my wife the other evening - I think it's such a powerful film for a variety of reasons and has many elements to which one can relate to. Being parents to a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old there were a few scenes which absolutely destroyed me emotionally. Particularly with Adam and his mother in bed... tragic.
And that final scene, that last reveal was just devestating... what a beautiful film
I don't know why I didn't notice that at the very end, Harry is in the same position that Adam found him in his bed in.
this movie shattered my heart and im still not healed 😭
the way the end scene explain the whole thing harry said whilst drunk in the beginning had me sobbing 😢😢6
Fun watching this film with you guys. As a GenX'er, it surprising to see how you guys reacted to the scene he came out to his mom. He sumed up my feelings as just "everything is different now, Mom". I never thought younger gens would think too much about it and all the awkwardness of it. I guess I was wrong.
This should have gotten Oscar and BAFTA nominations. I don't think it got either.
Based on a Japanese novel, which was previously filmed.
Every time I watch a clip of the final scene, I ugly cry. I can see myself in Harry so much. When I'm gone, I wish no part of me has to stick around in anxious despair for someone to find my body.
This film resonates with me as a gay man but I think it’s even more deep as a film about confronting grief and trauma. I lost my mom 2 years ago and the last scene with his parents just really stuck with me. I couldn’t get the image of the last time I spoke with my mom out of my mind. It’s a haunting reminder of the hole in the world that her death caused for me. A hole that can never be filled. I can never again talk to her about my 4 year old son or my husband or my life. She is forever frozen in time. It’s just an impossible thing to process. This film was incredible showing this.
Thank you for providing a platform for the representation I never saw and for showing the joy, laughter, hope, sadness and pain and showcasing the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ+ experience. Thank you for not shying away from the difficult parts but equally embracing and sharing the joyful moments. From one end of the spectrum of heartstopper to this, it is all so important and so appreciated. The only narratives I did see were coming out stories often with negative outcomes so seeing such an incredible constellation of the Queer experience has been truly life affirming and laughing along and crying with you both has really made experiencing all these forms of representation all the more impactful.
Get the fan so you can dry your tears watching this film.
It took me weeks to recover from this movie. It's the loudest collective sobbing I've ever heard in a theatre, we were all a mess & no one got up until the credits were over.
sat in the cinema until the credits had finished just staring at the screen. had absolutely no words to explain how i felt, this movie is so incredibly beautiful and emotional. your reactions and conversations brought me back to that!
Hey guys! I am glad I found you. I am an old Gay man, most of my friends have passed on. Now I have two new young Gay men in my life (so to speak). Thanks for sharing your reactions to the film. I watched it alone, I missed some of it. Loved seeing your emotions. Thanks again.
Alex and Josh, you’re Both Loved as well! Thank You so Much for providing this Content
A long time ago I read a book by Taichi Yamada and it blew my mind. Even gifted it to people. I didn't realize until just before I watched it that this film is also bases on one of his books. I'm so happy I did though because I knew to be guided by my feelings instead of logic. It's what makes it work so beautifully.
What's most masterful about this film for me though is that unlike many great filmmakers who take on a Japanese work and somehow never quite succeed in conveying the right atmosphere and feel and other elements that I can't quite verbalise, this film managed to get that special vibe about it while still making it appealing to a Western audience and, and in such a way that it is both relatable to them and deeply affects them.
I liked watching this review because I could see in real time how. I also enjoyed seeing that we felt the same about many parts of the film although we didn't quite guess what was going to happen at the same time. You caught on to a few things well before I did 😅
I must say, I really appreciated hearing some of your thoughts too. You somehow always have something deep or meaningful to say which either makes me feel deeply understood or offers me a new perspective. So happy I found you. One more reason to be thankful to Fellow Travelers, it seems.
FIrst, Past Lives was my favorite movie of the year, then it was Poor Things. Now this is my favorite movie of 2023! Holy cow!
Poor Things was my favourite, then All of Us Strangers beat it, so now I'll have to watch Past Lives!
@@zanyzander Its great. I own all three of those on blu-ray. Criterion is putting out a blu-ray disk for All Of Us Strangers. Of course this wasn't announced until after I bought a copy from the UK where they have it on disk, unlike here in the US where it has only been streaming until the Criterion comes out in Sept.
Great analysis, guys. Loved it. Ugnnnnn, those wrong subtitles were driving me insane while we were watching it, and they’re still pissing me off. Some of them are hilariously wrong.
That last visual in the ending has to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a film! Pure cinema magic!
Needed to see others go through the waves and emotions of this film. I just saw it yesterday at the cinema. And that ending my gosh. Thank you for sharing ❤
I tend to agree that love feels different to different people especially those that have gone through childhood trauma like Adam. He doesn’t have self love because it literally wasn’t shown or valued.
We are all capable of feeling love but if it’s not modeled or shown it’s incredibly difficult for it to feel grounded and real.
Love isn’t concrete it’s different for everyone because as you said the journey is different for everyone. Love is part of it but doesn’t show consistently for everyone
Andrew Haigh also did a great job with weekend which touches on some similar themes of being afraid of sex, not being able to tell parents and finding someone to talk about your experiences with. There are some parallels with the ways he shot both films and he certainly knows how to make audiences cry. Andrew Scott is always amazing but did so great here. I also really liked Jamie Bell's performance and loved the soundtrack.
I think love is an amplified emotional connection to other person. Like when he is happy - you are 100 times happier, and when he is sad you are devastated.
I've watched "All of Us Strangers" several times. At first, I felt there were two separate stories. The first concerns Adam's strange meeting and developing relationship with Harry. It's fantastic how both men live in a modern London high-rise that appears otherwise unoccupied. (I'm reminded of the first film version of "West Side Story" in which Tony and Maria see one another on the crowded dance floor of the gym; suddenly no one else seems to exist.)
Equally fantastic is the story of Adam's finding himself in a universe with his dead parents, alive again, younger than he is now. Suddenly I could see the connection between both stories.
Adam's emotional growth had ended with his parents' death when he was twelve. Now, in his forties, this miraculous reunion with his father and mother provides closure and enables Adam's emotions to be born again as well. Harry needs both the love and protection that Adam can finally provide.
This is a film that benefits from being watched, more than once.
I just found this beautiful movie in 2024. I watched it three days ago and have not been able to get it out of my mind.
So I decided to do some research online. Watching your take on it was one of the better critiques I could find.
I’m a 59 year old female. I’ve lost both my parents and my husband. I could relate 100% with this movie, the grief and loneliness. The want for connection and acceptance. The sex scenes were beautiful and I feel important for all people to see romantic love in all forms. The title is intriguing. To me it means, even though we’re all strangers. We all just need love. I love you all.❤
The club scene looks like all the people living in the apartment and it feels like they are in a fire and the siren are the rescuers or something
I just watched this move a few days ago. And now that I’m almost recovered, I decided to find reactions to it. Thank you for this beautiful reaction. The gut punch at the end when we find out Harry has been dead since the first night he visited Adam’s apartment… (yes viewers have questioned if that was the case, it is as confirmed by the director. And yes Adam is alive, not also a ghost)… was so devastating. I cried for a whole night.
Been watching your reactions since Fellow Travellers - though I sometimes disagree about everything being 'queer presentation' and think it's more about yknow just human shit (I'm pan myself), I loved watching you because I do feel like I belong to this community somewhat. I'm single up to now and had several flirts with being in love (most recently confessed to someone and got rejected), but none ended up in a relationship - recently watching both FT and this film weirdly gave me more hope that someone would love me for who I am. I know it's hard, but it's worth the wait and effort. Watching miserable stuff can be really cathartic and kinda proves the point that I'm well loved compared to some of the characters - I'm very fortunate to be able to love and be loved.
If you strangers on the Internet see this, you have my love as well
literally sobbing w my friend in the cinema, but ngl, so was everyone
I've literally been there, saying that I forgot to breath 😆
the more it think about this film to paraphrase 'Greif is the cost of love' and the twist was forshadowed by Harry's silence in the lift when Adam says he'll like a drink now...
FYI, in a few weeks Criterion will be putting out a blu-ray for this movie. Presale is available now. No I don't work for them. I just love the hell out of this movie
Omg this movie is amazing and beautiful and haunting and emotional 🥹🥹🌈🌈