All of Us Strangers Review: Is This Ghostly Queer Drama Actually Worth the Tears?

Director: Andrew Haigh

Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy

My Rating: 7.4/10

The Verdict:

All of Us Strangers is a beautifully acted and atmospheric film, and one that every queer person should see at least once, the third-act metaphysical twist felt polarizing to me, but the central performances by Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are great, and I give it a solid 7.4 out of 10 because it is a deeply moving experience which misses the mark a bit, mostly due to some confusing script choices.

The Full Review

When I first sat down to watch All of Us Strangers, I expected to be completely destroyed emotionally, the "Hot Priest" meets the "Normal People" guy in a lonely apartment block felt like the ultimate queer cinema event, and after letting the film sit with me for a few days I landed on a 7.4 rating - it is a gorgeous film though it struggles to stick the landing.

The Plot: A Lonely Reality

Adam is a screenwriter living in a nearly empty London high-rise, and he begins a tentative and steamy relationship with his neighbor Harry, while at the same time Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where he finds his parents living exactly as they were the day they died, thirty years ago

I appreciated the way director Andrew Haigh captured gay loneliness, and there is a specific silence in Adam's apartment which many queer people who moved to the city to find themselves will recognize, the scenes where Adam talks to his parents about his coming out and their varying levels of 1980s-era prejudice are the highlights of the film for me, and I felt like I was eavesdropping on conversations so many of us wish we could have with our past.

Chemistry: Scott and Mescal

The chemistry between Scott and Mescal is frankly electric, and the film is at its best when it's just the two of them together in a dimly lit room, where Andrew Scott's face is a landscape of repressed trauma and Paul Mescal brings a wounded puppy energy to the movie, with their physical intimacy filmed with a tenderness and realism which is rare in mainstream cinema.

Concept vs. Execution

So why isn't this rated higher for me?

I have to be honest about the ghost story aspect, and while I loved the emotional resonance of the parents I felt the film spent too much time on the metaphysical rules of the world, which by the time we got to the final twist pulled me out of the emotional reality of the romance.

The ending is where most viewers will either fall in love or feel slightly betrayed, and to me the finale felt like a "gotcha" moment which didn't quite match the grounded heavy grief of the first two acts, however even with a flawed ending the journey there is so visually and sonically stunning that I still think it's a good enough watch.

Style and Sound: A 1980s Sonic Landscape

I loved the use of 80s synth-pop, specifically The Power of Love by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, which gave the film a nostalgic and dreamy texture that I found very effective, and I noticed that the soundtrack acts as a bridge between Adam's present isolation and his childhood memories, while the cinematography is hazy and intimate which matches the theme of a fading memory - I walked away with those songs stuck in my head for days.

How it Compares to Andrew Haigh’s Weekend

I believe it is impossible to discuss this film without looking back at Haigh’s 2011 breakout Weekend, where Weekend was a gritty hyper-realistic look at a two-day hookup and All of Us Strangers takes those same themes of queer intimacy and wraps them in a surrealist ghost story.

In my opinion Weekend remains the tighter film because it doesn't rely on metaphysical tricks, but All of Us Strangers shows a massive growth in Haigh’s ambition and tackles the "intergenerational trauma" of the AIDS crisis in a way that feels fresh for 2026 audiences - and if you loved the quiet conversations of his earlier work you will find plenty to love here even if the supernatural elements feel a bit heavy-handed.

All of Us Strangers Ending Explained: The Final Twist (SPOILERS)

The final ten minutes of the film are what pushed my rating to a 7.4 rather than higher, and when Adam returns to the apartment and finds Harry’s body we realize that Harry has likely been dead since that first night he knocked on Adam's door

I felt that this "Sixth Sense" style twist reframed the entire romance as a shared hallucination or a haunting of two lonely souls, and while some viewers found this deeply romantic as a way for two spirits to find peace I found it slightly distracting, since it shifted the focus from Adam's internal growth to an external "reveal" - nevertheless the final image of them ascending into a star-field is visually one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in years.

All of Us Strangers Frequently Asked Questions

Is All of Us Strangers a happy ending movie?

No, if you are looking for a feel-good queer romance this is not it, it is a heavy exploration of isolation and grief which I would categorize as a sad queer movie that is ultimately about finding peace with your past.

Where can I stream All of Us Strangers?

As of early 2026 the film is widely available on Hulu in the US and Disney+ under the Star banner internationally, and you can also rent or buy it on Amazon and Apple TV.

Is there a book version of All of Us Strangers?

Yes it is loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada, however the book is a traditional ghost story and the queer elements were added specifically by Andrew Haigh for this film.

What is the age rating for All of Us Strangers?

It is rated R or 15 in the UK and I should warn readers that it contains strong sexual content and some brief drug use and very intense emotional themes which might be triggering for some.

Why did Adam's parents look so young?

Some viewers were confused by this, but Adam's parents died when he was 12 so when he visits them they are still in their 30s which is essentially the same age as Adam himself, and I think this creates a fascinating and slightly off dynamic which makes the film stand out