Who’s Involved

The film is written and directed by Andrew Haigh, a British filmmaker most well known for co-creating the comedy-drama television series for HBO Looking (2014-2015) and Looking: The Movie (2016) which follows the lives of three gay friends in a contemporary San Francisco and was the network’s first series centered around gay men. He also directed and wrote the critically-acclaimed adult relationship drama film 45 Years (2015) which nabbed lead actress Charlotte Rampling a Best Actress nomination at the 88th Academy Awards.

Andrew Scott, known for playing James Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock (2010-2017) will play the lead role of Adam, Paul Mescal will play Harry, Adam’s neighbor and romantic interest, and Jamie Bell and Claire Foy will play Adam’s parents. Haigh reportedly adapted Mescal’s character from the female love interest in the original novel, centering his film around a gay relationship, much in line with his previous critically acclaimed work. Haigh based much of his adaptation on his own childhood and life experience; he even used his childhood home as the location for the character Adam’s childhood home.

Release Dates

The film premiered on August 31, 2023, at the 50th Telluride Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures acquired the distribution rights and the film is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 22, 2023.

Is There a Trailer?

An official trailer for the film has not yet been released, however, there are several first-look photos available online. Most of the photos show Mescal and Scott together, with Mescal donning a mustache and some additional scruff. Not much is able to be deduced other than both lead actors look good and clearly share a lot of screen time together. Early reviews for the film have been very positive, with the film currently holding a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews, however, it is far too early to get a clear temperature on the response.

The Future of Mescal

Paul Mescal has already proved himself to be a low-budget darling, filling the screen with his quiet and expressive face in natural lighting. He kills any role that calls for sadness and lilting moments of self-expression, and seeing as this film has “melancholy,” “romance,” and “drama,” as descriptors, it is more than likely that Mescal will make an absolute feast out of this role. A role like this makes his presence in Gladiator 2 all the more exciting, like the calm before the storm. All we get of him are the poetic Irish mood pieces (no complaints), which means a gory, action-packed period piece will come like a knockout punch. It’s hard to melt into the scenery of a scene when Denzel Washington is on the same screen, so Gladiator 2 will be a real legacy film for him. Meanwhile, let him softly smile to himself on screen for another five movies because it never gets old. 

Keep up with Dead Talk News for future updates on the upcoming film All of Us Strangers.