1234 All of Us Strangers

[rrenault]

Ok. Fair enough lol. I uncensored.

[CSM126]

All of Us Beavers

[cdnchris]

I went into this entirely blind, having no idea what it was about, though not due to DarkImbecile's recommendation of going in as blind about it as possible: I have just really really sucked at keeping up on new releases that aren't films my kids are interested in seeing. And I'm actually very grateful for that in this case because I'm not sure if it would have been as effective for me if I knew what it was about going in; I feel as though I would have probably built up certain expectations and I would have missed, well, what the film was actually about, or been dismissive of its setup. And I'll be vague to avoid spoiling that for other people, but even though I can't relate directly to a lot in this film, I think (how to put it?) it was effective at making me feel the experiences of Scott's character. One scene in particular, the one between Foy and Scott, was devastating because of the subtleties in there. I've seen those types of scenes several times, but they're usually played out to up the drama, and this felt very real. She's trying to act supportive, but the disappointment is evident, and it hurt. And there was something even more effective with Scott doing it as an adult, who I assume has always wondered how it would play out since he mentions at one point how he would imagine all these experiences (including trips) that never happened. The following scene with Bell was also pretty great, as was the one between Scott and Mescal where he's talking about the loneliness he feels and has built over time, which was also very eye-opening for me since it was so specific. And then there's that scene in what I think is an American-themed diner where he knows he has to move on. It's been a while since I've seen a film where I was really fighting back tears.

I've liked Haigh's other films, too, but I really liked this one, so much so that I'll forgive the one thing I felt was really unfair:

Spoiler

and that's the ending. I'll accept the possibility that I don't really understand it, but it felt absolutely unfair and unwarranted, after Scott's character having dealt with everything else, to stick him with another ghost at the end (I'll just state in this spoiler I took the film completely at face value). There is something to learning that Mescal's character died (I assume OD'd) after looking for companionship that night, only to be turned away by Scott, adding another tragic element to the film around how his trauma has affected him (Mescal's character asking why no one found him is also a punch to the gut). Still, I found it rather maddening all the same. I don't think the film is any less effective because of it, but I also don't think it would have been any less effective if, you know, Mescal was still alive. I always try to approach a film on its own terms, but I think this is the one film where I really wanted a happy happy ending. But again, there could be something I'm missing. At the very least, the twist didn't feel cheap at all, and the shift to a shot of the cosmos works.

But yes, all the same, this was pretty great, and so happy this was able to make it to home video.