Here’s your first look at Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott’s ghostly gay romance All of Us Strangers
Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott have sent fans into a tailspin with the first look at their dark queer thriller All of Us Strangers.
Normal People star Mescal and Fleabag‘s hot priest Scott have something of a reputation for taking on sexy yet heart-wrenching roles. And this year, fans will get to see the duo team up for more emotionally devastating scenes when they star in acclaimed gay filmmaker Andrew Haigh’s supernatural drama All of Us Strangers.
Loosely based on Taichi Yamada’s Japanese novel, Strangers, the film follows screenwriter Adam (Scott), who has a chance encounter one night in his London tower block with his mysterious neighbour Harry (Mescal) that “punctures the rhythm of his every-day life”.
Over a whirlwind 48 hours, the two grow closer; but then Adam returns to his childhood home and discovers that his parents – played by Claire Foy (The Crown) and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot and Rocketman) – who supposedly died 30 years earlier, are both alive and well. And they don’t seem to have aged a day.
Production company Searchlight Pictures shared a first-look image from the film on Monday (8 August).
ALL OF US STRANGERS
Directed and Written by Andrew Haigh
Starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy
In theaters December 22, 2023 pic.twitter.com/Je1jaTKLye
— Searchlight Pictures (@searchlightpics) August 7, 2023
The photo shows the two leads in a club. Mescal’s arm is around Adam’s shoulder. In essence, it’s intimate and sexy, which is everything we’ve come to expect from Haigh, who previously directed the contemporary gay classic, Weekend.
This image comes with news of a festive release date, and fans are already counting down the days.
Oh my god a gay film feat Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal? A fever dream https://t.co/NcJjEFifMy
— Hannah McCann (@binarythis) August 8, 2023
Can't wait for ALL OF US STRANGERS to ruin my life/become my entire personality 4 months from now. https://t.co/Ktt35tCVpy
— Taylor Driggers-McDowall (@TaylorWDriggers) August 7, 2023
I am about to be the most annoying person on planet earth https://t.co/2bpMemrUhH
— Rizzah Azam (@izzyisaclown) August 7, 2023
This film's blend of talent and compelling narrative is bound to leave a lasting impact.
— The MFTs (@therealmfts) August 7, 2023
I feel like I will be a different person after this one https://t.co/PapFqHXI9d
— Leonie
(@leonierxmxs) August 7, 2023
Twitter will not survive this film https://t.co/rQPKIwmU14
— Josh McGrane (@jmcgrane17) August 7, 2023
Seeing Paul Mescal be a f*g is gonna irreversibly alter my brain chemistry https://t.co/MyMwYBbesv
— rip rugrats in paris (@bigmisswig) August 7, 2023
THIS IS MY HEARTSTOPPER https://t.co/EGa97psFtr
— Wendell (@RhodeToLove) August 7, 2023
I’m gay https://t.co/DCIqKIa0Ov
— toni collette’s instagram account stan account (@HarryPhillips15) August 7, 2023
At the 2023 IFTA Film & Drama Awards on Sunday (6 August), Scott, who starred in the gay smash Pride, in 2014, spoke to Goss.ie about his “great chemistry” with Mescal and the surprise “romcom” nature of All of Us Strangers.
“I wouldn’t describe it as a romcom, it’s quite dark,” he said. “But there is rom in it, and I suppose there’s a bit of com in it, so maybe it is a romcom. But it’s an unusual sort of one.
“Paul is a superstar and he’s a beautiful person inside and out. It was just a great pleasure to work with an Irish person. Irish boys abroad! We had an immediate shorthand with each other, and I’m very excited for everyone to see it.”
Scott was, however, more coy about the nature of Adam and Harry’s relationship in the film when asked about his experience filming the romantic scenes.
“I don’t want to give anything away, but you’re required to have chemistry no matter what you’re doing with people. So, even if they’re not love scenes, you have to have chemistry. We had great chemistry.”
As we wait for the film to arrive on the big screen, Mescal, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Aftersun, is keeping busy. He will next appear in the hotly anticipated Gladiators sequel, opposite Pedro Pascal and the legendary Derek Jacobi, and filming is set to start soon on his World War Two gay romance The History of Sound, opposite God’s Own Country‘s Josh O’Connor.
All of Us Strangers is due to open in cinemas on 22 December.