2022 was the year of Mescal with Aftersun. Culminating with an Academy Award nomination for his Aftersun performance, the young actor’s future was quite bright. The success of that film elevated Paul Mescal as an actor to look out for in future projects.

The calendar switching to 2023 brought two new films starring the Oscar nominee, including one directed by a filmmaker I’ve yet to connect with – Andrew Haigh. His movie, All Of Us Strangers, debuted at the Telluride Film Festival and was followed by appearing at the New York Film Festival. After yet to be on the same wavelength with Haigh, that sentiment has evaporated with this film.

All Of Us Strangers reflects on one’s past while examining an individual’s inability to move forward from loss and trauma. Haigh’s film poses questions on how one moves on but, most importantly, invites one to wonder the types of conversations you wish you could have with individuals who are no longer with you.

All Of Us Strangers follows a screenwriter named Adam, who lives in a mostly empty apartment building in London. With little to no friendships and relationships, Adam meets Harry, another tenant in his building. Amid their blossoming relationship, Adam is confronted with ghosts from his past – his deceased parents. The coinciding events lead to an existential examination of a man’s relationships and moving forward.

Andrew Haigh’s direction is impeccable. Aided by Jamie D. Ramsey, the cinematography is stunning. Ramsey’s lens evokes Haigh’s vision with gorgeous imagery that is some of the year’s best. None evokes a reaction more than a Lynchian-style transition on a train.

While Haigh’s screenplay captures a deeply personal story that I connected with on many levels when it revolved around Adam’s parents, the script fails the film with its finale. It is a finale that undercuts All Of Us Stranger’s themes with moments that stunt Adam’s growth and instead leave him in a similar position as to how we first met him upon the film’s commencement.

Despite my struggle with the film’s finale, the film’s ensemble is dynamite. Andrew Scott gives a career-best performance as he captures the emotional sensitivity of Adam and his journey throughout. Under other actors, Paul Mescal’s Harry would come off as a trope love interest, but in the hands of Mescal, cinephiles are treated to a haunting turn by one of the best young actors working today.

While Scott shines brightest, I was floored by both Jamie Bell and Claire Foy. The scenes Scott shares with Bell and Foy will melt and break your heart. The connection between parents and sons is on full display and is the relationship that has stayed with me as the credits rolled.

All Of Us Strangers is set to be one of the most emotionally moving films of 2023. While the film never evoked tears as it did for other critics in my P&I audience, Andrew Haigh was able to move me with his sensitive touch and direction, unlike any film of his before.