Alan in Belfast: All Of Us Strangers – a very solid soundtrack lights up a frustrating plot about being gay in the 1980s and today

All Of Us Strangers portrays the isolation of being gay by physically sequestering two men at opposite ends of an otherwise empty new modern apartment block. It’s metaphorically – and we soon discover, metaphysically – rich storyline.

Adam (played by Andrew Scott) is a screenwriter who is flirting with the idea of writing about his parents who died when he was a young child. Three decades later he still feels their loss keenly and seeks connection with them and an opportunity to talk through what’s happened since their car crash. Harry (Paul Mescal) lives closers to the ground. He drinks a lot and makes a pass at Adam, turning up late in the evening at his apartment’s door with a bottle and a proposition. This too plays on Adam’s mind.

As he processes his childhood, Adam wonders what his parents would think of him if they knew how he grew up? Would they appreciate his job writing scripts for films? Would they accept him being gay? To explain anything more would be to enter spoiler city. However, it’s important to note that Claire Foy steals the show playing Adam’s mother – you’ll have to ponder whether this is a flashback or some other device – and her moment of saying goodbye finally tipped me over the edge and her heartbreak provided a much-needed emotional connection to the film. Another ending later on was less impactful.

Scott and Mescal act their socks off (in several senses). Their characters’ intimacy is believable even before what will forever be thought of as a ‘Saltburn’ moment. They are invested in each other. And the sadness within their characters’ lives is palpable: All Of Us Strangers says something important about what it was like to be gay in the 1980s – Adam’s childhood – and still today. It’s clearly a story that is personal for writer/director Andrew Haigh to explore. However, the structure of the story is a weakness of the film and I think it’s understandable that the Academy Awards skipped over this good-but-struggling-to-be-great film.

Aside from Foy’s performance, the other undeniable joy of All Of Us Strangers is the pitch perfect soundtrack. Pet Shop Boys’ synth-tastic Always On My Mind is the film’s second emotive dip into the band’s 1980s catalogue. But it’s the final number – The Power of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood – that heightens the intense feeling of loneliness as the story, and Adam’s love, runs dry.

All Of Us Strangers is playing in Queen’s Film Theatre as well as most other local cinemas.