Hello everyone, just adding a new comment to say thank you to everyone for the thoughtful and kind response to this video. I never really expected this one to do all that well, and yet it’s one of the highest performing videos on the channel, which I find beautiful. Seeing so many comments of people with similar experiences with the film and in real life, as well as sharing their own touching stories brings a lot of joy to me. You’ve all been so great, nice, and powerful in the comments and I can’t say thank you enough. Love you all.
2 days ago I watched the movie with my boyfriend. The night after and the whole day after I felt sad. I cried so many times. I’m crying while I’m writing this comment. My boyfriend and I were laying in bed together. Sobbing. Telling each other how alone we felt all these years. Especially after we realized who we were. This movie hit so hard in so many ways. So many people will not even feel like that. Because they did not go thru it like we all did. It feels like realizing how broken and alone we were back then. Pushing it all away. And now it’s all there. It’s like a wall came down. And although I always knew how much I love my man, after this I love him even more. I’m so happy that our paths crossed. That we found each other in a world ever growing loneliness. I’m so grateful. Thank you for this amazing and truthful assay. I guess we are all on the same boat. And to know that we all went thru it, we could see that we are not alone.
I also felt this omnious sense of loneliness for an extended amount of time after the movie. I did NOT like feeling that emotion. It was almost too real.
If you felt so alone and lonely, why didn't you just go to a 12-step meeting, a volunteering group, or just a bar to meet other people? Maybe it was your choice to be alone all along.
I realized that loneliness is part of the essence of humanity: we are so singulars as well as similars, and that is the complexity of human bondage. Abandomning loneliness is to manage the art of recognizing ourselves in the eyes of a stranger.
I'm a 70 year old gay man and this film really hit home. I've personally struggled with loneliness off and on most of my life. As I've aged out the periods have become more frequent and more intense. I never came out to my parents, which I sometimes regret but given their generation it isn't likely that I would have been accepted by them, however I do think they knew but we never discussed it. When I was younger, I always thought that I'd find a permanent love to grow old with. I did find romance several times but for one reason or another they didn't develop in a lasting love. Now at this age finding someone, although not impossible is highly improbable. I really appreciated seeing your Video Essay, especially after seeing the film, which I plan to watch again. You completely captured the essence of it. I recommend that every gay person alive watch it. It's an extraordinary film with many lessons learned.
I love your comment. I’m in exactly the same position a man now past 70. I know I’m never going to have that physical contact again or be found physically attractive. I think you get used to being alone but it’s a hard lesson to learn. I wish you all the best.
This video essay made me love this film even more. As someone who is gay and feel like a stranger to my own family, I haven’t came out to them yet. This is such an incredible video essay on one of the most important films of the decade and of this century. LGBTQ+ people are always having to explain ourselves but the loneliness doesn’t ever go away, it lingers.
I totally agree with this movie's director when he says that the building has tenants. Adam and Harry are so lonely, sad and depressed that they do not "see" them, acknowledge them, connect with them. And we really do have to keep in mind that, in a certain way, Adam is not a reliable narrator. Great job with this video.
Interesting that "The Power of Love" starts playing on Adam's TV - but I think he presses "pause" when there's a knock at the door. And then at the end, the song plays all the way through...
I finished the movie a few hours back and was staring the wall for about 20minutes. Touched me so much. The loneliness resonated with me. Not having someone to talk to, to cry, to hug... I didn't get that Harry was already gone since that scene in the elevator, that just make it more sad. I don't even know what to say or think right now. This movie was too much for me. Definitely something to bring to therapy. Thanks for the review, really appreciate.
This movie definitely hit close to home. I watched it 2 days ago and I’m still thinking about it. My parents aren’t 100% on board with me being gay, but it could’ve been way worse. They didn’t kick me out or force me into conversion therapy. We just don’t talk about it and I’m 100% ok with that. I’m so grateful that I do get to talk about my gay life with my gay friends and my girl friends. So while I’m not lonely when it comes to friends/family, I am romantically lonely. I like to think I’m alright, but I do feel like something is missing. I’m not desperate to fall in love, but I do feel like my clock is ticking. I’m 25 and all my straight friends are getting married/having children. I’m just gonna trust the process and hope that I won’t be “alone” forever.
You won't be alone if you put yourself out there. I remember being your age and thinking the same. But if you don't look for it, it won't come to you. Good luck Mr
Patience, trust the process. Spend time with quality people, gay and straight. Date men of character. I found the love of my life when I was 47, we have been a loving couple of 22 years, I will be 70 this summer. I look back and realize that I did the best I could. I had a loving family. The men in my life were there to teach me what is important and how to give and receive love. I am happy that the one man I previously hoped would be the one, is still a loving friend. He and his husband of 34 years now are an important part of my life, even though we live hours apart. We don't get to choose our families, but we can choose who we surround ourselves as friends and extended families. Quality. Always choose good people. Walk away from those who simply rely on their beauty and youth, it will fade.
This film is a metaphorical fever dream, that allows many readings, I feel there's a need to let get of the actual story we see on the screen and listen to the buttons its pressing within us. I kind of see the parent's death when Adam is 12 is a metaphor for the relationship going off the rails when he hit puberty and realised he was gay and the wounds that this left ... and the film is a meditation on that wound and how it overshadowed his whole life, The loneliness and the inability to connect to others are symptoms of that wound. And the film hits us so hard because we all know that wound, even if our parents didn't die when we were 12 there's still something in our childhood experience that this even speaks too. Then if his parents death is a metaphor for the death of the relationship, then Harry's is too. The same as the wound killed his relationship with his parents, it killed his relationship with Harry, And then the more hopeful reading of the ending is that he was able to overcome the wound and undo the death of the relationship by accepting and achieving connection.
Thank you! Great analysis. As a gay man approaching 60, this film resonated with me in many ways. My generation had no roadmap or role models to follow in terms of growing older. Queer cinema has no shortage of stories about being young and hot and new to the scene. But not so much when it comes to being 50 and over. The implication is that we don't exist, or we do and who we are just isn't that interesting.
I saw "All of us strangers" yesterday evening, at a screening in Turin (Italy). It was a gut- and heart-wrentching experience. This beautiful, beautiful movie touches on an issue so visceral that I couldn't even realize it was there, let alone begin to untangle it... Andrew Haigh's film and your brilliant essay (as well as the article you linked) helped me to understand the deeply buried roots of the dull sadness that it's always been there, inside of me, for as long as I can remeber. It's the first time in my life that I truly realized how very different my life has always been, and will always be, simply because I'm gay, no matter the recognition we obtain, the acceptance we gain, the rights we conquer. Thank you for your essay.
Tears are falling again! This analysis made me tear up. I just wanna hug the characters of Adam and Harry. How cruel this world is for people in the LGBT community. I adore this movie so much.
saw it for the first time ever in Theatres 2 days ago and i have never cried that much in my entire life. can't get over how strongly i sobbed and the way i looked, all red with my my frontal vein tensed. it was such a beatiful way to get it all out. a Film has never hit me this hard in my entire life and i Love that the day finally came. it pierced right through my heart with Adam being a projection of myself right on the silver screen, along with Harry. they both feel like home. i Love Film so i knew who Andrew Haigh was, i've watched all of his work and one of my Favorite Films of all time before this released was Weekend (2011). he's become my Favorite Director overtime since discovering him last year. i only vaughly read the Films plot details a few months before seeing it and kept a promise to myself not to watch the trailer, so i could be going in blind. when i came out of the Cinema i didn't think it was possible for me to already see the Film again, but there i was a few hours ago yesterday seeing it again in the same theatre. 💜 now i'm only 2 minutes into this video so i gotta stop all this talking hahah, let me grab my dinner & watch this video 'cause this is entertaining! my last note before going out is how Adam's aparment number is 2704, which is the number that stands for a romance and trying to stay in the right mindset of a positive future
Thank you for the information on 2704. Your eye to detail is amazing. Looked it up and found "honesty, journey towrads spiritual enlightenment, and stability".
Incredible review/analysis. I adored this film. Very sad, yet very beautiful. Though I don’t find myself at this level of loneliness, there have been many moments in my life where this feels so real. Even now, 36, living in New York after a chapter in Los Angeles, I do have moments where I feel that intense lingering loneliness. I’m outgoing, kind, and quite social, yet I find myself with no gay male friends. In many ways I feel lonely in the sense of yearning for male companionship, platonic and romantic. I put in the effort, yet the seas seem quiet. I am grateful to possess a strong inner hope that I’ll eventually find my tribe. And my man. I often wonder, where has all the connection gone in our modern culture today?
Oddly, i can relate to your experience. The depiction of that silent loneliness does feel very familiar even though i consider myself, a normal, average queer person. Maybe it even transcends to other people as well, but i do think its at its core the yearning to be let in because you think you are outside.
Your essay is beautiful and revealing of yourself, to your credit. I also found the film to be deeply affecting and reflecting of my life and experience. Your assertions about the ‘expectations of rejection’, really hit me. Having experienced this enormously has left me with a permanent little ball of sadness, always aware of not belonging. It is just sad. However, I took a lot of hope from the ending, for all the characters and myself. Which for me sums up the film and my own life, sad but hopeful. Thank you
I just watched the movie for this video and I'm so glad I did. As I kept watching, I noticed how there's a lot of diegetic (and non diegetic) music and thought that this was one way for the characters to cope with their loneliness.
I definitely agree with the music also being a form of coping, that’s why I love the soundtrack a lot. They really emphasized that cold, isolated feeling in it.
You did a fantastic analysis. I spent two solid hours after seeing the film thinking so many things, and every day since looking forward to it coming on streaming so i can catch what i missed. The themes of loneliness and disconnect are universal. I am very glad to see many of my theories wrapped up in this analysis. Also, what you say is true, it is what you make of it. After Adam says goodbye to his parents, a romantic happy ending would have been welcome but it didn't fit with the lessons that Adam learned. I can't remember a movie effecting me like this in a very long time. Bravo to your well thought out analysis and presentation.
Just watched the movie yesterday. Finally. Feeling heartbroken, but i desired to be so and get this cathartic feeling. Thank you for your video, it adds a perfect assent to the whole perception of this wonderful movie❤
Hello from Tokyo. Thank you for your analysis and thoughts about this film. You put into words what I felt but was not at all certain about how the ending can be interpreted, and I am relieved it was not totally tragic. ...I went to see the film yesterday, 4/20 at the theater; it has just been released on 4/19 here. I was mesmerized. So beautiful and sad. Their loneliness cut. Cried from start to finish. Though I am not gay or lesbian, I more than relate to Adam and Harry; I won't have any 'closure'.
What a beautiful review ,.It really struck a cord in my own experiance as a gay man in a community which tries to avoid the pain and alienation that exist in Queer relationships ...
UPDATE!! To those subscribed, my PC has been acing major issues as of late. It was a miracle that I was even to get this video rendered in the raw state that it is, and it will be very difficult for me to make more videos for the time being. If there is a slowdown in uploads, that is the reason why. It will be way too difficult to pump these out as frequently, but I'm trying my best to get the issue fixed ASAP. This is one of the most important and personal videos I've made for this channel, so even with all my technical issues, I did everything I could to get this video out instead of having to abandon it. But if there are any issues with framerate or other glaring technical problems, it likely got messed up in the transferring and rendering process. I'm very sorry about that. Thank you for giving the time of day to me and my video. I'm very grateful.
This is a remarkable film, that will keep gently rippling through the pools of our minds, for many a day. Yet this video made by @ReturningSunnn is just as remarkable, in that it reveals to me how the feelings that ‘All of us Strangers’ engenders, can be beautifully explored, shared and explained, from an as meaningful perspective. And isn’t this the way that we can move together, as strangers, to understand how this mortal coil is our heartfelt opportunity to be alone, all together? Thank you for your insight, honesty and glorious human fragility💞
Dear ReturningSun, thank you so much for that amazing essay. It tore at me. I have tried to view All of us Strangers 3 times and had to stop rather quickly. Yes, watching alone. What you say in your essay resonates deep within my core. It hurts. I've spent many years in therapy. Your essay gave me some truths to explore with my current therapist, so thank you. All the best X
This film is relatable on so many levels. I have been trying to explain to my friends and chosen family that I am not feeling lonely, as alone. It’s a difficult concept to try and explain and for my friends to understand.
Hi Philip, I recently started to understand this: 1. Feelings are valid despite our understanding, so regardless of what we think, the way we feel is totally real to us. 2. Invalidation is form of emotional abuse, if someone invalidate how we feel or think or act we must directly tell them how this behaviour hurts using “I feel...” language. 3. Finally, if this behaviour doesn’t stop, it numbs you and the need to explain yourself becomes the norm for you and them. I learned that the hard way by hurting others and myself. I hope this gives you perspective, god knows I need help more than anybody. Salute ;*
After expressing my gratitude for your effort in crafting this wonderful review, I'm definitely planning to watch the film. I empathize with your circumstances and wish you strength, good health, and happiness as you navigate through life. Sending love from Pakistan.
I’ve said this in other places, but I “get” the movie on so many levels. I’m a gay, Gen X man who was adopted - lots of the themes in this movie are themes in my life just like so many other people. Almost all my friends from my younger days are dead from HIV/AIDS and or addiction. I’m really not looking forward to retirement; it’s going to be so lonely without them - life already is. For me, it’s fuel for my passions - addressing poverty and not letting us forget all those who died from HIV/AIDS. Their deaths and my loneliness will not be in vain.
It's so true that I've been yearning for someone to come in my world but no one ever does and all these years loneliness has been haunted me so bad as a gay men. I'm crying with such a mess. I don't want to be alone.
I just finished watching this flim last night. This flim really resonated with me. It brought to light a necessary conversation about loneliness that I often feel is ignored or not properly addressed in the community. From my own personal experience, the uniqueness of gay loneliness stems from the inability to share your grief and fear with others as you step into your own identity. Facing severed belonging from your family and societal discrimination does make you feel less safe in the world. You eventually do become primed for rejection. Over coming the trauma and grief that you were never able to fully share with anyone is extremely difficult. I loved how this flim was able to capture what that process of healing looks like in way that gives you space to make your own interpretations and connections with your own life experiences. This is a masterpiece, definitely timeless and very much relevant. I'm so greatful "All of Us Strangers" exists.
I am too. There's hope for gay cinema! Let's give the suicides and murders a break and start presenting gay men as they actually are today, not the past when being gay automatically meant one was a tragic figure destined for a hospital bed or morgue.
My hometown has an amazing cinema so I go there to watch films rather than where I currently live. I saw this and after 2 hours of walking, taking a taxi, a train and then a bus back to my place I had a lot of time to think about this film and the moment I came home I completely broke down. I think this film perfectly highlights what I’ve been feeling ever since being out. Coming out (in the western world at least) was described to me as this big moment where I would feel free and happy to be myself after so long of suppressing who I am and although that is true that doesn’t mean being out comes with it’s own set of problems. Like Harry says being out does put a description to that isolation you always felt with your family, it also creates a sort of disconnect between you and your friends. I’m bisexual, my friends are aware of this yet I feel like the conversations I’ve had about male relationships aren’t the same as the conversations I’ve had about female relationships. They seem to almost tune out a bit. In our society those 2 things just seem incredibly different when they aren’t (not entirely) that difference creates a natural distance and lack of understanding but I also feel like there is also a lack of desire TO understand. I don’t think my friends are homophobic, I am accepted but I don’t feel understood so even if they are my friends I kind of feel alone when I’m with them. I think the average person in Europe or the US thinks that homophobia is a thing of the past and that we’re doing just fine. We aren’t, The U.K. still hasn’t banned conversion therapy, hate crimes are rising, many countries globally don’t recognise same sex marriage and queer sex education is lacking. But people don’t see these things so assume everything is going great for queer people now. There is so much work to be done before we truly feel integrated with the rest of the world
Thanks a LOT for sharing your thought here. I finally understand so many of my own feelings, fears and wonderings about why i... a gayman living in Denmark, which is one of the countries in the world, where lgbt equality and acceptance is the strongest... STILL feel this weird loneliness and distance from my straight friends and family!! And YES!!! We still have ( way to ) much to fight for!!
This essay is spot-on for me in dealing with depression and relationships. I watched the film after watching this and the emotions and pain increased significantly. Truly the finest LGBTQ film ever made.
This to me, is one of the Best film reviews I’ve ever watched. Granted I have not seen the film yet…but it’s definitely a must watch! As someone who is experiencing loneliness, this resonates profoundly. ThankQ for sharing your thoughts on this film. Love & Light💙
Thank you so much for a beautiful analysis of the film. The film is heart-wrenching for me because I know the pain of Adam and Harry. I struggled to accept my sexualiy identity for so long. Also, I have got numerous minority status. The film is like a mirror to me because i lost my grandmother 12 years back, I do imagine talking to her sometimes because I was so attached to her. I watched the film 'All of us strangers' 3 days back. It's still in my head, I have already cried enough for 3 days. The film is helping me to heal, just like Adam was healing in the writing process. Your explanation also helped me to understand the film better, It's also very personal for me. Thank you for being part of this journey. We 'all of us strangers' but still we are connected with humanity. Thanks, again ❤
It‘s maybe the wisest Movie ever made about our community. Afterwards, i so badly wanted to call my mom and tell her to go see the movie to better understand me and my life. Even though she never made a deal out of me being gay, it’s like a wall seperating us. But i didn’t. And i could connect to both, Adam and Harry, as individual characters. It felt good to be seen as an analyzation by andrew haigh. Thank you🖤
Thank you for making this video. I’ve never felt so moved by TH-cam video especially one in response to such a powerful film. You truly did it justice in your review. I hope the experience gave you more personal healing too. The information you integrated was so powerful when combined with the story, and how you connected all the ideas together in such a personal emotional way. Thank you for sharing this with the world so some of us could connect and feel that deeper understanding you’ve shared. Not to distract, but to clarify, I’ve become agoraphobic since Covid, and live in a level of loneliness that I don’t think I even comprehend I’m doing therapy and using various techniques to work towards getting back into the world it’s taking much longer than I expected but I know that emotional loneliness derive from whatever cause is so profound even when people don’t realize it’s happening to them thank you again for sharing your video. Thank you.
i’m usually more of a lurker because i never really know how to word comments, but this was a really good analysis, films about any sort of aspect of the queer experience tend to punch me in the gut and your breakdown of the movie exemplified that for me. been a fan of your content since the land of the lustrous video and i just wanna say keep up the great work!
I’ve been waiting for a video essay that discusses the theme of loneliness of this brilliant movie beyond the ties of Adam’s loss of his parents. So many of us are floating in space barely making any meaningful connections even with the people we’re in a relationship with (if so lucky). So many quiet, solitude moments that are never seen is just never talked about. This really is the stronger of a companion piece to Weekend. This movie gutted me. All the reflections and atmospheric shots belie such darkness.
Stunning analysis! You're a man who sees what isn't shown and hears what isn't expressed, but only implied. Your beautiful and sensitive insights say a lot about you. I absolutely loved this emotionally powerful and stunning film. Like you, its full emotional impact can only be expressed through the inarticulate speech of my heart. Thank you for your willingness to share your insights and exquisite observations.
Thank you for your personal review of this film. As I sit here and wipe my tears away, I can't help but feel connected to you. When I watched the movie, I felt many of the same sentiments you have included in this review. Although not as intelligently put as you have done here. This subject resonates deeply with me and helps to calm those thoughts that my life does not matter. I am reminded of all the people I have lost. I am reminded of the times when I didn't know that "love is about making sure you are caring about someone else and knowing when they need you". There were friends that I didn't know they needed me until it was too late and they were gone. I'm often perplexed about why I am still here and I think it has something to do with this. I think it has something to do with learning to love and let people in. Learning to care for others and help them when they need me. And maybe, learning also, to do that very same thing for myself. Thank you!💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Hey, just wanted to thank you so much for this heartfelt review. I just watched the movie by myself and was honestly really shocked about the ending. Especially when the mother tells Adam to look after Harry because he looks sad. I thought that Adam finally has the capacity to let Harry into his life and taking care of him, just because how sad Harry is as well. Finding out about his death was very tough. I‘m very thankful for this review because of how much a reflection this movie is of my life, how personal it felt, and to have it so beautifully explained by your experience watching that film. Queer loneliness is a very much needed thing to talk about. What a devastatingly great movie.
I discovered your videos thru this gentle, honest and cogent response to one of the most powerful and beautiful films of the decade. Your feelings about it were perfectly expressed and both personal and universal. I am a theatre director and filmmaker and look forward to watching your other film reviews and responses. I was wondering if you have also seen Haigh's wonderful film Weekend - if not i think it might also speak to you. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself - wishing you the very best.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I haven’t seen Weekend yet, but I do plan on it. I want to experience as much of Haigh’s work as possible after this masterpiece.
Thank you for sharing this. This film has weighed pretty heavily on me for a while, and despite wanting to figure out why... I've managed to subconsciously evade coming to any conclusions. Then, this video and WHAM... I'm grateful for having stumbled on this, and saving some money on therapy. lol Much appreciation.
Fantastic review of this very complex story. So many people strictly focus on the gay storyline but the parallel track dealing with his parents is key to understanding the relationship bet the two men. Thank you for not saying the movie “destroyed” you, lol, and you've been crying for 3 days😭
I am so sorry that you feel that way.... if it helps, i think that we are MANY who share your feelings!!! I just hope, tha we can use the insights we seem to get from this movie, to work towards a better place, and more acceptance and compassion of our self, eachother and understanding about why we still... in 2024 suffers so badly.
Tremendo análisis 😭no sé cómo escribirlo en ingles para que se entienda, pero es el análisis más completo y profundo, pero claro que he visto❤ muchas gracias por compartir tu opinión ❤❤❤ para mí, es tal cual como explicas la peli, muchas gracias❤
i care so deeply for this movie and oh my god, i just cried (in a good way?) while watching your video, i honestly don't know what to say except that you explained that feeling so so well, thank you so much
Thank you for analyzing and explaining the film for us.. you did it beautifully. Now, Ill watch the film once more, it really resonated with me. Im from Greece, and although Im not lonely in the sense that Ive found love and have a partner, I feel lonely in the sense that society expects me to be. This year, Greece granted us the right to marry and adopt children, but its still difficult to come out of the closet because the Christian Orthodox culture is hostile towards us. I can't confide in some of my straight friends or colleagues about being gay and having a husband. My parents know, and they accept me, but they still view it as shameful, and Ive distanced myself from them, although it's not their fault, it's the culture they were raised in. Despite having legal rights on paper, I live in the shadows with the person I love.
Thank you. Thank you so much. It's incredible how much this movie ended meaning for a lot of us Queer folks, and it's captivating the way we all saw ourselves reflected in this little piece of cinema, as sad as it may sound. I guess I do have a lot of things to say about this movie too, but you already said all of them, and in such a beautiful wording. This was a heartwarming essay, and I'm grateful you took the time, the effort and the love to work on it. I'm not only beholden this movie exists- I am also very beholden this video exists. I have never seen anything of yours before, but this really resonated with me, in a really significant way. I love you, stranger. Keep fighting.
This is an amazing review. I am so glad that I got an opportunity to come across your channel. You beautifully highlighted, some of the most poignant and heartbreaking as well as important scenes that are crucial to putting the pieces of the theme of loneliness, fear, rejection, and love together. I really appreciate your analysis and is by far one of the best I’ve seen.
I am slowly coming out as a bisexual man, I got 3 of my closest friends to just sit with me and say “I’m happy you figured out what we all knew” Now I’m onto telling my other close friends who I know I’m going to lose them because of religion. Some will stay with me but most won’t. I experienced so much aloneness even as a 28 year old man. I’ve been in love once with a guy who was extremely toxic that ended awful. Lots of feelings left unsaid and lots of hidden feelings that we both couldn’t express because of our faith. This movie genuinely made me go, “I refuse to die alone.” ❤❤
I was thinking about the article on gay loneliness a couple of times while watching the movie and now that you also made reference to it, I am kind of sure Andrew Haigh has read it. Great analysis and I appreciate the personal touch! Thank you for that. Sending hugs.
thank you so very much for you observations and insights to the film All Of Us Strangers... I haven't watched it yet, but now I feel less afraid of seeing myself in the storyline ... thank you.
Thank you so much for this video, I feel the same and you said it in such a beautiful way. 💜 Everyday a battle to not feel a stranger to myself and to others, elaborating and moving on. The trick is to keep breathing.
Me again (i posted yesterday). Again, thank you for your personal vulnerability in creating and shaing this video (i see you). With tears in my eyes as i type this, having watched the movie 4 times now. Never have i ever watched a movie twice (immediately after watching it the first time). This video summary, is so amazing in making clear, the layers and nuances of the loneliness i too, have felt my entire life... that i didn’t even know, i felt, till now. Brilliant movie! Brilliant summary! Thank you again @returningSunn. 💞
First, and foremost, thank you for this brilliant video. It was very important to understand. Secondly, the ending, I think can be viewed in 2 separate ways. One-Adam as the screenwriter using his skills as a screenwriter to work through his experience of life and unresolved grief with the invention of Harry as his instrument to explore his situation OR (two) Harry as a real person in his life, even if only for a brief moment. With that as a perspective the fate of Harry as a creative invention is easier to handle emotionally than if he had been a real person in Adam’s life. Either way of understanding who Harry was gives Adam the breakthrough to unblock and live the rest of his life. Outcome #2 is tragic and cathartic. Outcome #1 is creative but still cathartic.
Thanks for your review on this beautiful movie. It did show me struggles we all share, no matter what identity we have got. I definatly felt seperarted to others, parents, partners, the world, my kids. Seperation and fear are common feelings and that's why this movie is so important. You can only see what you have an idea of. I will surely watch with my kids! I guess it's a good way to get into a close conversation which we all long to have but somehow avoid...
This was a truly beautiful video that you made. It touched me deeply. I’ve felt it came from the heart. I’m an older man now very much alone but I love this film. It just brought back memories that I had when I was in love and had physical contact with people, this doesn’t happen anymore.❤
Hey. Not sure if you will see this, but I genuinely thank you for this video. For some reason it has seemed to fill some type of void left from watching the film. I look forward to what else you create.
Hey, just wanted to say i dont know you and i usually dont watch movie reviews but i think if this movie has teach me anything is that we dont have to take for granted all the positive and good things so thats why im commenting. I loved your video, it felt so real and touching just like the movie and just wanted to let you know you did an amazing job with it and that I hope you can surpass your fears and your current moment in your life if its a difficult one. Im also in a really weird moment and this movie makes me see things in other way, definitely will be one of my all time favorites. Hope you have a nice day and live, you’re amazing and you deserve it for sure🩷
I was looking for something like this. I am in awe for the first time in a long time. Thank you for this, thank you for your work, the brilliance of your emotional intelligence, explaining this to some people who have watched it and did not understand all of it and still cried, not really sure why. A brilliant film, a perfect essay.
Thank you for your beautiful and thoughtful analysis of All of us Strangers - it has really helped me work my way through my own reactions to seeing the film last night. Thank you for putting in all the effort to make this video - appreciating your work!! ❤
I agree completely with "@user-ct7lt7ef9f"! This is the best review for this I have seen as well. While I'm not in the LGBT community, as a disabled man, I related immensely to this movie and how the characters have always felt like outsiders and your essay articulated those ideas in ways I could not despite my best efforts. You nailed this video!
Thank you! I’m glad this video could reach to someone who could relate even outside of the LGBTQ community, as I heavily believe there is something to connect with for everyone here :)
Fantastic thought-provoking review on this AMAZING STUNNING BEAUTIFUL MOVIE!! I cried like a baby to this. I'm gay and despite having some long term relationships in my life, I have always felt lonely to some degree. I still feel like I don't fit in. The whole movie is heartbreaking, especially thinking back to that first initial meeting of Adam and Harry after watching through til the end. Total sliding doors moment. The whole cast are amazing and I cannot wait to own this on Blu-Ray when it comes out. All Of Us Strangers is such an important piece of film-making and it ranks VERY HIGH in my Best Movies of all time! Really appreciate this video essay pal 😃
Sliding door moment!! What a GREAT metaphor!!! I feel exactly the same thing!!! Like i ... in my mid 50ies..living open as gay since i was 15... finally undersands SO many things about the sufferings in my own life. And in my fellow gay brothers.
Thank you for sharing your point of view. You are very eloquent and I felt changed by hearing your experience of this film. As far as I'm concerned you hit the nail on the head with all the aspects especially the ending. I will hold this awareness close and bring it with me through my life. I am grateful for you.
Recently stumbled across your channel scrolling trying to fill my lonely days. Your voice itself cuts right through with empathy and deep understanding. Not seen the film, but immediately felt bonded to both the charactets who seem to reflect my personal circumstances. Suicidal thoughts seem to suggest a way out of the dark deep pit of unconnectedness, but the realisation that possibly at the heart of this ideation is some weird satisfaction that my estranged family would finally actually feel sorry for me, makes me see how revoltingly pathetic my existence really is. So I resolve to just go back and cuddle my naked self
As films are always up for interpretation, I can add my own point of view: I can't help but feel terribly sad and devastated about Harry. Becuase that's what many of us face, too: not feeling like protagonists, not feeling seen or heard in conversations that are about us. We are told through the words of someone else. Not to fault Adam, beause he is not evil, but I find so tragic that we don't really get to know Harry, we don't know who he is, and he is told through what Adam imagines him to be. He is not to be saved, but just to be a thought. We are too late to his room, we are not able to save him by accompanying Adam on his journey. And that is the true tragedy. How some can heal, are able to overcome their own monsters that haunt them, yet others are not. Not because we (as a society) don't "want" them too, but because the circumstances are so. I felt more of a connection with Harry, perhaps, because I've felt alone in a trapped kind of way, not being able to be as seen as Adam. That's what hurts the most. I don't believe I have found the movie as hopeful (which is not at all bad, on the contrary, I felt seen, I felt represented). I do have to agree, however, that the tragic poetry of Adam finding Harry is in some ways comforting.
Thank you so much for your succinct and thoughtful analysis. It was very touching and resonated with a lot of my own experience and takeaways from such a beautiful film. 🧡
Hello everyone, just adding a new comment to say thank you to everyone for the thoughtful and kind response to this video. I never really expected this one to do all that well, and yet it’s one of the highest performing videos on the channel, which I find beautiful.
Seeing so many comments of people with similar experiences with the film and in real life, as well as sharing their own touching stories brings a lot of joy to me. You’ve all been so great, nice, and powerful in the comments and I can’t say thank you enough. Love you all.
2 days ago I watched the movie with my boyfriend. The night after and the whole day after I felt sad. I cried so many times. I’m crying while I’m writing this comment. My boyfriend and I were laying in bed together. Sobbing. Telling each other how alone we felt all these years. Especially after we realized who we were. This movie hit so hard in so many ways. So many people will not even feel like that. Because they did not go thru it like we all did. It feels like realizing how broken and alone we were back then. Pushing it all away. And now it’s all there. It’s like a wall came down. And although I always knew how much I love my man, after this I love him even more. I’m so happy that our paths crossed. That we found each other in a world ever growing loneliness. I’m so grateful. Thank you for this amazing and truthful assay. I guess we are all on the same boat. And to know that we all went thru it, we could see that we are not alone.
You can be in a relationship and still feel alone and broken.
I also felt this omnious sense of loneliness for an extended amount of time after the movie. I did NOT like feeling that emotion. It was almost too real.
If you felt so alone and lonely, why didn't you just go to a 12-step meeting, a volunteering group, or just a bar to meet other people? Maybe it was your choice to be alone all along.
It's really great how life can give US a great Journey. Hope you guys have the best ❤
I realized that loneliness is part of the essence of humanity: we are so singulars as well as similars, and that is the complexity of human bondage. Abandomning loneliness is to manage the art of recognizing ourselves in the eyes of a stranger.
I'm a 70 year old gay man and this film really hit home. I've personally struggled with loneliness off and on most of my life. As I've aged out the periods have become more frequent and more intense. I never came out to my parents, which I sometimes regret but given their generation it isn't likely that I would have been accepted by them, however I do think they knew but we never discussed it. When I was younger, I always thought that I'd find a permanent love to grow old with. I did find romance several times but for one reason or another they didn't develop in a lasting love. Now at this age finding someone, although not impossible is highly improbable. I really appreciated seeing your Video Essay, especially after seeing the film, which I plan to watch again. You completely captured the essence of it. I recommend that every gay person alive watch it. It's an extraordinary film with many lessons learned.
There's plenty of people who can identify with what you have described. Your not alone
I love your comment. I’m in exactly the same position a man now past 70. I know I’m never going to have that physical contact again or be found physically attractive. I think you get used to being alone but it’s a hard lesson to learn. I wish you all the best.
Same here. It’s like you’ve just explained my reality 😢
Much love 💕
Hope you find what your looking for
This video essay made me love this film even more. As someone who is gay and feel like a stranger to my own family, I haven’t came out to them yet. This is such an incredible video essay on one of the most important films of the decade and of this century. LGBTQ+ people are always having to explain ourselves but the loneliness doesn’t ever go away, it lingers.
I totally agree with this movie's director when he says that the building has tenants. Adam and Harry are so lonely, sad and depressed that they do not "see" them, acknowledge them, connect with them. And we really do have to keep in mind that, in a certain way, Adam is not a reliable narrator. Great job with this video.
Interesting that "The Power of Love" starts playing on Adam's TV - but I think he presses "pause" when there's a knock at the door. And then at the end, the song plays all the way through...
What’s more interesting is that his parents have on “The Power of Love “ but the Huey Lewis song.
What's also interesting is the final scene of the movie seamlessly transitions into the first scene in The Power of Love music video from 1984.
I finished the movie a few hours back and was staring the wall for about 20minutes. Touched me so much. The loneliness resonated with me. Not having someone to talk to, to cry, to hug... I didn't get that Harry was already gone since that scene in the elevator, that just make it more sad. I don't even know what to say or think right now. This movie was too much for me. Definitely something to bring to therapy. Thanks for the review, really appreciate.
This movie definitely hit close to home. I watched it 2 days ago and I’m still thinking about it. My parents aren’t 100% on board with me being gay, but it could’ve been way worse. They didn’t kick me out or force me into conversion therapy. We just don’t talk about it and I’m 100% ok with that. I’m so grateful that I do get to talk about my gay life with my gay friends and my girl friends. So while I’m not lonely when it comes to friends/family, I am romantically lonely. I like to think I’m alright, but I do feel like something is missing. I’m not desperate to fall in love, but I do feel like my clock is ticking. I’m 25 and all my straight friends are getting married/having children. I’m just gonna trust the process and hope that I won’t be “alone” forever.
same :)
You won't be alone if you put yourself out there. I remember being your age and thinking the same. But if you don't look for it, it won't come to you. Good luck Mr
Patience, trust the process. Spend time with quality people, gay and straight. Date men of character. I found the love of my life when I was 47, we have been a loving couple of 22 years, I will be 70 this summer. I look back and realize that I did the best I could. I had a loving family. The men in my life were there to teach me what is important and how to give and receive love. I am happy that the one man I previously hoped would be the one, is still a loving friend. He and his husband of 34 years now are an important part of my life, even though we live hours apart. We don't get to choose our families, but we can choose who we surround ourselves as friends and extended families. Quality. Always choose good people. Walk away from those who simply rely on their beauty and youth, it will fade.
Literally me
Hey… just know that you are loved no matter what circumstance. ❤ (random comment from a STRANGER) 😅❤❤❤❤❤
This film is a metaphorical fever dream, that allows many readings, I feel there's a need to let get of the actual story we see on the screen and listen to the buttons its pressing within us. I kind of see the parent's death when Adam is 12 is a metaphor for the relationship going off the rails when he hit puberty and realised he was gay and the wounds that this left ... and the film is a meditation on that wound and how it overshadowed his whole life, The loneliness and the inability to connect to others are symptoms of that wound. And the film hits us so hard because we all know that wound, even if our parents didn't die when we were 12 there's still something in our childhood experience that this even speaks too. Then if his parents death is a metaphor for the death of the relationship, then Harry's is too. The same as the wound killed his relationship with his parents, it killed his relationship with Harry, And then the more hopeful reading of the ending is that he was able to overcome the wound and undo the death of the relationship by accepting and achieving connection.
Thank you! Great analysis. As a gay man approaching 60, this film resonated with me in many ways. My generation had no roadmap or role models to follow in terms of growing older. Queer cinema has no shortage of stories about being young and hot and new to the scene. But not so much when it comes to being 50 and over. The implication is that we don't exist, or we do and who we are just isn't that interesting.
If I can give you one piece of advice, please please find yourself a real person to relate to. Make this a priority in this phase of your life.
@@nabilas6685 Not sure what this means.
I saw "All of us strangers" yesterday evening, at a screening in Turin (Italy). It was a gut- and heart-wrentching experience. This beautiful, beautiful movie touches on an issue so visceral that I couldn't even realize it was there, let alone begin to untangle it... Andrew Haigh's film and your brilliant essay (as well as the article you linked) helped me to understand the deeply buried roots of the dull sadness that it's always been there, inside of me, for as long as I can remeber. It's the first time in my life that I truly realized how very different my life has always been, and will always be, simply because I'm gay, no matter the recognition we obtain, the acceptance we gain, the rights we conquer. Thank you for your essay.
Thanks for sharing, I’m so sorry
Were you unaware or in denial ?
I hold this film close to my heart, thank you for making this video
This film moved in ways that I wasn't spending. It touches many universal themes in such beautiful way. Thanks so much for your essay
Tears are falling again! This analysis made me tear up. I just wanna hug the characters of Adam and Harry. How cruel this world is for people in the LGBT community.
I adore this movie so much.
I cried a lot with your video essay more than the actual film. :(
saw it for the first time ever in Theatres 2 days ago and i have never cried that much in my entire life. can't get over how strongly i sobbed and the way i looked, all red with my my frontal vein tensed. it was such a beatiful way to get it all out. a Film has never hit me this hard in my entire life and i Love that the day finally came. it pierced right through my heart with Adam being a projection of myself right on the silver screen, along with Harry. they both feel like home.
i Love Film so i knew who Andrew Haigh was, i've watched all of his work and one of my Favorite Films of all time before this released was Weekend (2011). he's become my Favorite Director overtime since discovering him last year. i only vaughly read the Films plot details a few months before seeing it and kept a promise to myself not to watch the trailer, so i could be going in blind.
when i came out of the Cinema i didn't think it was possible for me to already see the Film again, but there i was a few hours ago yesterday seeing it again in the same theatre. 💜
now i'm only 2 minutes into this video so i gotta stop all this talking hahah, let me grab my dinner & watch this video 'cause this is entertaining!
my last note before going out is how Adam's aparment number is 2704, which is the number that stands for a romance and trying to stay in the right mindset of a positive future
Thank you for the information on 2704. Your eye to detail is amazing. Looked it up and found "honesty, journey towrads spiritual enlightenment, and stability".
Thanks!
Incredible review/analysis. I adored this film. Very sad, yet very beautiful. Though I don’t find myself at this level of loneliness, there have been many moments in my life where this feels so real. Even now, 36, living in New York after a chapter in Los Angeles, I do have moments where I feel that intense lingering loneliness. I’m outgoing, kind, and quite social, yet I find myself with no gay male friends. In many ways I feel lonely in the sense of yearning for male companionship, platonic and romantic. I put in the effort, yet the seas seem quiet. I am grateful to possess a strong inner hope that I’ll eventually find my tribe. And my man. I often wonder, where has all the connection gone in our modern culture today?
Oddly, i can relate to your experience. The depiction of that silent loneliness does feel very familiar even though i consider myself, a normal, average queer person. Maybe it even transcends to other people as well, but i do think its at its core the yearning to be let in because you think you are outside.
Your essay is beautiful and revealing of yourself, to your credit. I also found the film to be deeply affecting and reflecting of my life and experience. Your assertions about the ‘expectations of rejection’, really hit me. Having experienced this enormously has left me with a permanent little ball of sadness, always aware of not belonging. It is just sad. However, I took a lot of hope from the ending, for all the characters and myself. Which for me sums up the film and my own life, sad but hopeful. Thank you
I just watched the movie for this video and I'm so glad I did.
As I kept watching, I noticed how there's a lot of diegetic (and non diegetic) music and thought that this was one way for the characters to cope with their loneliness.
I definitely agree with the music also being a form of coping, that’s why I love the soundtrack a lot. They really emphasized that cold, isolated feeling in it.
@@ReturningSunn
Also, your movie reviews are great. Please don't feel as if you need to stop making them. Keep up the good work.
You did a fantastic analysis. I spent two solid hours after seeing the film thinking so many things, and every day since looking forward to it coming on streaming so i can catch what i missed. The themes of loneliness and disconnect are universal. I am very glad to see many of my theories wrapped up in this analysis. Also, what you say is true, it is what you make of it. After Adam says goodbye to his parents, a romantic happy ending would have been welcome but it didn't fit with the lessons that Adam learned. I can't remember a movie effecting me like this in a very long time. Bravo to your well thought out analysis and presentation.
Thank you 🫶
Just watched the movie yesterday. Finally. Feeling heartbroken, but i desired to be so and get this cathartic feeling. Thank you for your video, it adds a perfect assent to the whole perception of this wonderful movie❤
Hello from Tokyo. Thank you for your analysis and thoughts about this film. You put into words what I felt but was not at all certain about how the ending can be interpreted, and I am relieved it was not totally tragic. ...I went to see the film yesterday, 4/20 at the theater; it has just been released on 4/19 here. I was mesmerized. So beautiful and sad. Their loneliness cut. Cried from start to finish. Though I am not gay or lesbian, I more than relate to Adam and Harry; I won't have any 'closure'.
What a beautiful review ,.It really struck a cord in my own experiance as a gay man in a community which tries to avoid the pain and alienation that exist in Queer relationships ...
UPDATE!!
To those subscribed, my PC has been acing major issues as of late. It was a miracle that I was even to get this video rendered in the raw state that it is, and it will be very difficult for me to make more videos for the time being. If there is a slowdown in uploads, that is the reason why. It will be way too difficult to pump these out as frequently, but I'm trying my best to get the issue fixed ASAP.
This is one of the most important and personal videos I've made for this channel, so even with all my technical issues, I did everything I could to get this video out instead of having to abandon it. But if there are any issues with framerate or other glaring technical problems, it likely got messed up in the transferring and rendering process. I'm very sorry about that. Thank you for giving the time of day to me and my video. I'm very grateful.
This is a remarkable film, that will keep gently rippling through the pools of our minds, for many a day. Yet this video made by @ReturningSunnn is just as remarkable, in that it reveals to me how the feelings that ‘All of us Strangers’ engenders, can be beautifully explored, shared and explained, from an as meaningful perspective. And isn’t this the way that we can move together, as strangers, to understand how this mortal coil is our heartfelt opportunity to be alone, all together? Thank you for your insight, honesty and glorious human fragility💞
I hope you realize how helpful your video potentially is to so many of our tribe. Again I thank you. Consider yourself hugged.
Dear ReturningSun, thank you so much for that amazing essay. It tore at me. I have tried to view All of us Strangers 3 times and had to stop rather quickly. Yes, watching alone. What you say in your essay resonates deep within my core. It hurts. I've spent many years in therapy. Your essay gave me some truths to explore with my current therapist, so thank you. All the best X
This film is relatable on so many levels. I have been trying to explain to my friends and chosen family that I am not feeling lonely, as alone. It’s a difficult concept to try and explain and for my friends to understand.
Hi Philip, I recently started to understand this:
1. Feelings are valid despite our understanding, so regardless of what we think, the way we feel is totally real to us.
2. Invalidation is form of emotional abuse, if someone invalidate how we feel or think or act we must directly tell them how this behaviour hurts using “I feel...” language.
3. Finally, if this behaviour doesn’t stop, it numbs you and the need to explain yourself becomes the norm for you and them.
I learned that the hard way by hurting others and myself. I hope this gives you perspective, god knows I need help more than anybody. Salute ;*
After expressing my gratitude for your effort in crafting this wonderful review, I'm definitely planning to watch the film. I empathize with your circumstances and wish you strength, good health, and happiness as you navigate through life. Sending love from Pakistan.
This is the best analysis of this film I have seen. Great work!
Thank you!
A sublime masterpiece.
Thank you for treating this with the respect it deserves. The film and subject material.
I’ve said this in other places, but I “get” the movie on so many levels. I’m a gay, Gen X man who was adopted - lots of the themes in this movie are themes in my life just like so many other people. Almost all my friends from my younger days are dead from HIV/AIDS and or addiction. I’m really not looking forward to retirement; it’s going to be so lonely without them - life already is. For me, it’s fuel for my passions - addressing poverty and not letting us forget all those who died from HIV/AIDS. Their deaths and my loneliness will not be in vain.
It's so true that I've been yearning for someone to come in my world but no one ever does and all these years loneliness has been haunted me so bad as a gay men. I'm crying with such a mess. I don't want to be alone.
I just finished watching this flim last night. This flim really resonated with me. It brought to light a necessary conversation about loneliness that I often feel is ignored or not properly addressed in the community.
From my own personal experience, the uniqueness of gay loneliness stems from the inability to share your grief and fear with others as you step into your own identity. Facing severed belonging from your family and societal discrimination does make you feel less safe in the world. You eventually do become primed for rejection. Over coming the trauma and grief that you were never able to fully share with anyone is extremely difficult.
I loved how this flim was able to capture what that process of healing looks like in way that gives you space to make your own interpretations and connections with your own life experiences.
This is a masterpiece, definitely timeless and very much relevant. I'm so greatful "All of Us Strangers" exists.
I am too. There's hope for gay cinema! Let's give the suicides and murders a break and start presenting gay men as they actually are today, not the past when being gay automatically meant one was a tragic figure destined for a hospital bed or morgue.
My hometown has an amazing cinema so I go there to watch films rather than where I currently live. I saw this and after 2 hours of walking, taking a taxi, a train and then a bus back to my place I had a lot of time to think about this film and the moment I came home I completely broke down. I think this film perfectly highlights what I’ve been feeling ever since being out. Coming out (in the western world at least) was described to me as this big moment where I would feel free and happy to be myself after so long of suppressing who I am and although that is true that doesn’t mean being out comes with it’s own set of problems.
Like Harry says being out does put a description to that isolation you always felt with your family, it also creates a sort of disconnect between you and your friends. I’m bisexual, my friends are aware of this yet I feel like the conversations I’ve had about male relationships aren’t the same as the conversations I’ve had about female relationships. They seem to almost tune out a bit. In our society those 2 things just seem incredibly different when they aren’t (not entirely) that difference creates a natural distance and lack of understanding but I also feel like there is also a lack of desire TO understand. I don’t think my friends are homophobic, I am accepted but I don’t feel understood so even if they are my friends I kind of feel alone when I’m with them.
I think the average person in Europe or the US thinks that homophobia is a thing of the past and that we’re doing just fine. We aren’t, The U.K. still hasn’t banned conversion therapy, hate crimes are rising, many countries globally don’t recognise same sex marriage and queer sex education is lacking. But people don’t see these things so assume everything is going great for queer people now. There is so much work to be done before we truly feel integrated with the rest of the world
Thanks a LOT for sharing your thought here. I finally understand so many of my own feelings, fears and wonderings about why i... a gayman living in Denmark, which is one of the countries in the world, where lgbt equality and acceptance is the strongest... STILL feel this weird loneliness and distance from my straight friends and family!! And YES!!! We still have ( way to ) much to fight for!!
What a great video. I am very touched and cry like a baby again. Much much love to you and everybody reading this right now ❤
This essay is spot-on for me in dealing with depression and relationships. I watched the film after watching this and the emotions and pain increased significantly. Truly the finest LGBTQ film ever made.
This to me, is one of the Best film reviews I’ve ever watched. Granted I have not seen the film yet…but it’s definitely a must watch! As someone who is experiencing loneliness, this resonates profoundly. ThankQ for sharing your thoughts on this film. Love & Light💙
Thank you so much for a beautiful analysis of the film. The film is heart-wrenching for me because I know the pain of Adam and Harry. I struggled to accept my sexualiy identity for so long. Also, I have got numerous minority status. The film is like a mirror to me because i lost my grandmother 12 years back, I do imagine talking to her sometimes because I was so attached to her. I watched the film 'All of us strangers' 3 days back. It's still in my head, I have already cried enough for 3 days. The film is helping me to heal, just like Adam was healing in the writing process. Your explanation also helped me to understand the film better, It's also very personal for me. Thank you for being part of this journey. We 'all of us strangers' but still we are connected with humanity. Thanks, again ❤
It‘s maybe the wisest Movie ever made about our community.
Afterwards, i so badly wanted to call my mom and tell her to go see the movie to better understand me and my life. Even though she never made a deal out of me being gay, it’s like a wall seperating us. But i didn’t.
And i could connect to both, Adam and Harry, as individual characters. It felt good to be seen as an analyzation by andrew haigh.
Thank you🖤
Thank you for making this video. I’ve never felt so moved by TH-cam video especially one in response to such a powerful film. You truly did it justice in your review. I hope the experience gave you more personal healing too. The information you integrated was so powerful when combined with the story, and how you connected all the ideas together in such a personal emotional way. Thank you for sharing this with the world so some of us could connect and feel that deeper understanding you’ve shared. Not to distract, but to clarify, I’ve become agoraphobic since Covid, and live in a level of loneliness that I don’t think I even comprehend I’m doing therapy and using various techniques to work towards getting back into the world it’s taking much longer than I expected but I know that emotional loneliness derive from whatever cause is so profound even when people don’t realize it’s happening to them thank you again for sharing your video. Thank you.
i’m usually more of a lurker because i never really know how to word comments, but this was a really good analysis, films about any sort of aspect of the queer experience tend to punch me in the gut and your breakdown of the movie exemplified that for me. been a fan of your content since the land of the lustrous video and i just wanna say keep up the great work!
Glad you’ve stuck around for a while, and that I did a good job here. :)
I’ve been waiting for a video essay that discusses the theme of loneliness of this brilliant movie beyond the ties of Adam’s loss of his parents. So many of us are floating in space barely making any meaningful connections even with the people we’re in a relationship with (if so lucky). So many quiet, solitude moments that are never seen is just never talked about. This really is the stronger of a companion piece to Weekend. This movie gutted me. All the reflections and atmospheric shots belie such darkness.
Beautifully said and thanks for such a spectacular review
Stunning analysis! You're a man who sees what isn't shown and hears what isn't expressed, but only implied. Your beautiful and sensitive insights say a lot about you. I absolutely loved this emotionally powerful and stunning film. Like you, its full emotional impact can only be expressed through the inarticulate speech of my heart. Thank you for your willingness to share your insights and exquisite observations.
Sending you so much love. - I love your analysis and I am proud that you trust us to support you in your journey.♥️
Thank you for your personal review of this film. As I sit here and wipe my tears away, I can't help but feel connected to you. When I watched the movie, I felt many of the same sentiments you have included in this review. Although not as intelligently put as you have done here. This subject resonates deeply with me and helps to calm those thoughts that my life does not matter. I am reminded of all the people I have lost. I am reminded of the times when I didn't know that "love is about making sure you are caring about someone else and knowing when they need you". There were friends that I didn't know they needed me until it was too late and they were gone. I'm often perplexed about why I am still here and I think it has something to do with this. I think it has something to do with learning to love and let people in. Learning to care for others and help them when they need me. And maybe, learning also, to do that very same thing for myself. Thank you!💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Hey, just wanted to thank you so much for this heartfelt review.
I just watched the movie by myself and was honestly really shocked about the ending. Especially when the mother tells Adam to look after Harry because he looks sad. I thought that Adam finally has the capacity to let Harry into his life and taking care of him, just because how sad Harry is as well. Finding out about his death was very tough. I‘m very thankful for this review because of how much a reflection this movie is of my life, how personal it felt, and to have it so beautifully explained by your experience watching that film. Queer loneliness is a very much needed thing to talk about. What a devastatingly great movie.
I discovered your videos thru this gentle, honest and cogent response to one of the most powerful and beautiful films of the decade. Your feelings about it were perfectly expressed and both personal and universal. I am a theatre director and filmmaker and look forward to watching your other film reviews and responses. I was wondering if you have also seen Haigh's wonderful film Weekend - if not i think it might also speak to you.
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself - wishing you the very best.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I haven’t seen Weekend yet, but I do plan on it. I want to experience as much of Haigh’s work as possible after this masterpiece.
My pleasure - are you also a filmmaker or writer? Let me know your thoughts on Weekend.
@@Jk-us7wt I’m a writer and actor, and I’ll be sure to let you know!
Thank you for sharing this. This film has weighed pretty heavily on me for a while, and despite wanting to figure out why... I've managed to subconsciously evade coming to any conclusions. Then, this video and WHAM... I'm grateful for having stumbled on this, and saving some money on therapy. lol Much appreciation.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
Fantastic review of this very complex story. So many people strictly focus on the gay storyline but the parallel track dealing with his parents is key to understanding the relationship bet the two men.
Thank you for not saying the movie “destroyed” you, lol, and you've been crying for 3 days😭
This movie review cuts deep and touches a very raw nerve. I feel a dark cold void and it is very scary.😔
I am so sorry that you feel that way.... if it helps, i think that we are MANY who share your feelings!!! I just hope, tha we can use the insights we seem to get from this movie, to work towards a better place, and more acceptance and compassion of our self, eachother and understanding about why we still... in 2024 suffers so badly.
Tremendo análisis 😭no sé cómo escribirlo en ingles para que se entienda, pero es el análisis más completo y profundo, pero claro que he visto❤ muchas gracias por compartir tu opinión ❤❤❤ para mí, es tal cual como explicas la peli, muchas gracias❤
You must have a gorgeous mind and soul to make a review this intelligent, well-articulated and interesting! I already feel less alone, thank you!
i care so deeply for this movie and oh my god, i just cried (in a good way?) while watching your video, i honestly don't know what to say except that you explained that feeling so so well, thank you so much
Thank you for analyzing and explaining the film for us.. you did it beautifully. Now, Ill watch the film once more, it really resonated with me.
Im from Greece, and although Im not lonely in the sense that Ive found love and have a partner, I feel lonely in the sense that society expects me to be. This year, Greece granted us the right to marry and adopt children, but its still difficult to come out of the closet because the Christian Orthodox culture is hostile towards us. I can't confide in some of my straight friends or colleagues about being gay and having a husband. My parents know, and they accept me, but they still view it as shameful, and Ive distanced myself from them, although it's not their fault, it's the culture they were raised in. Despite having legal rights on paper, I live in the shadows with the person I love.
Thank you. Thank you so much. It's incredible how much this movie ended meaning for a lot of us Queer folks, and it's captivating the way we all saw ourselves reflected in this little piece of cinema, as sad as it may sound.
I guess I do have a lot of things to say about this movie too, but you already said all of them, and in such a beautiful wording. This was a heartwarming essay, and I'm grateful you took the time, the effort and the love to work on it.
I'm not only beholden this movie exists- I am also very beholden this video exists.
I have never seen anything of yours before, but this really resonated with me, in a really significant way.
I love you, stranger. Keep fighting.
The best analysis of this film I’ve seen so far. ❤️
Beautiful meditation on this haunting film ...a film that really hits very close to home for so many of us.
Thanks for this video, its very important listen a queer person reviewing and give a great analysis about AOUS. Again, thanks
This is an amazing review. I am so glad that I got an opportunity to come across your channel. You beautifully highlighted, some of the most poignant and heartbreaking as well as important scenes that are crucial to putting the pieces of the theme of loneliness, fear, rejection, and love together. I really appreciate your analysis and is by far one of the best I’ve seen.
I am slowly coming out as a bisexual man, I got 3 of my closest friends to just sit with me and say “I’m happy you figured out what we all knew”
Now I’m onto telling my other close friends who I know I’m going to lose them because of religion. Some will stay with me but most won’t.
I experienced so much aloneness even as a 28 year old man.
I’ve been in love once with a guy who was extremely toxic that ended awful. Lots of feelings left unsaid and lots of hidden feelings that we both couldn’t express because of our faith.
This movie genuinely made me go, “I refuse to die alone.” ❤❤
such a gorgeous video essay for a gorgeous film!
I was thinking about the article on gay loneliness a couple of times while watching the movie and now that you also made reference to it, I am kind of sure Andrew Haigh has read it.
Great analysis and I appreciate the personal touch! Thank you for that.
Sending hugs.
we’re here.
yezzir 😼
Ah this reminds me of John Green's beautiful essay for the new year
Thank you for making this video essay 🙏🏼 we needed it
Thank you for this review. This film is a masterpiece
thank you so very much for you observations and insights to the film All Of Us Strangers... I haven't watched it yet, but now I feel less afraid of seeing myself in the storyline ... thank you.
Thank you, for such beautiful analysis
I loved it! Thanks for being so insightful ❤
Thank you so much for this video, I feel the same and you said it in such a beautiful way. 💜 Everyday a battle to not feel a stranger to myself and to others, elaborating and moving on. The trick is to keep breathing.
Me again (i posted yesterday). Again, thank you for your personal vulnerability in creating and shaing this video (i see you). With tears in my eyes as i type this, having watched the movie 4 times now. Never have i ever watched a movie twice (immediately after watching it the first time). This video summary, is so amazing in making clear, the layers and nuances of the loneliness i too, have felt my entire life... that i didn’t even know, i felt, till now. Brilliant movie! Brilliant summary! Thank you again @returningSunn. 💞
First, and foremost, thank you for this brilliant video. It was very important to understand. Secondly, the ending, I think can be viewed in 2 separate ways. One-Adam as the screenwriter using his skills as a screenwriter to work through his experience of life and unresolved grief with the invention of Harry as his instrument to explore his situation OR (two) Harry as a real person in his life, even if only for a brief moment. With that as a perspective the fate of Harry as a creative invention is easier to handle emotionally than if he had been a real person in Adam’s life. Either way of understanding who Harry was gives Adam the breakthrough to unblock and live the rest of his life. Outcome #2 is tragic and cathartic. Outcome #1 is creative but still cathartic.
Thank you for the beautiful analysis and personal reflections, truly touching. ❤
Excellent summary. I love this film.
Thanks for your review on this beautiful movie. It did show me struggles we all share, no matter what identity we have got. I definatly felt seperarted to others, parents, partners, the world, my kids. Seperation and fear are common feelings and that's why this movie is so important. You can only see what you have an idea of. I will surely watch with my kids! I guess it's a good way to get into a close conversation which we all long to have but somehow avoid...
This was a truly beautiful video that you made.
It touched me deeply. I’ve felt it came from the heart. I’m an older man now very much alone but I love this film. It just brought back memories that I had when I was in love and had physical contact with people, this doesn’t happen anymore.❤
Hey. Not sure if you will see this, but I genuinely thank you for this video. For some reason it has seemed to fill some type of void left from watching the film. I look forward to what else you create.
Hey, just wanted to say i dont know you and i usually dont watch movie reviews but i think if this movie has teach me anything is that we dont have to take for granted all the positive and good things so thats why im commenting. I loved your video, it felt so real and touching just like the movie and just wanted to let you know you did an amazing job with it and that I hope you can surpass your fears and your current moment in your life if its a difficult one. Im also in a really weird moment and this movie makes me see things in other way, definitely will be one of my all time favorites. Hope you have a nice day and live, you’re amazing and you deserve it for sure🩷
I was looking for something like this. I am in awe for the first time in a long time. Thank you for this, thank you for your work, the brilliance of your emotional intelligence, explaining this to some people who have watched it and did not understand all of it and still cried, not really sure why. A brilliant film, a perfect essay.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this beautiful movie.
thank you for this.
I just watched this film and was blown away by it and now by this video. very good! You summed up exactly what I thought while watching. 👏🏻
Good video!! Good review of the movie. Glad the vidoe narrator found All of us strangers to be inspiring for him!!
Thank you for your beautiful and thoughtful analysis of All of us Strangers - it has really helped me work my way through my own reactions to seeing the film last night. Thank you for putting in all the effort to make this video - appreciating your work!! ❤
I agree completely with "@user-ct7lt7ef9f"! This is the best review for this I have seen as well. While I'm not in the LGBT community, as a disabled man, I related immensely to this movie and how the characters have always felt like outsiders and your essay articulated those ideas in ways I could not despite my best efforts. You nailed this video!
Thank you! I’m glad this video could reach to someone who could relate even outside of the LGBTQ community, as I heavily believe there is something to connect with for everyone here :)
This was a really enlightening review of one if the best films I’ve seen in a long long time. Thank you!!
Fantastic thought-provoking review on this AMAZING STUNNING BEAUTIFUL MOVIE!! I cried like a baby to this. I'm gay and despite having some long term relationships in my life, I have always felt lonely to some degree. I still feel like I don't fit in. The whole movie is heartbreaking, especially thinking back to that first initial meeting of Adam and Harry after watching through til the end. Total sliding doors moment. The whole cast are amazing and I cannot wait to own this on Blu-Ray when it comes out. All Of Us Strangers is such an important piece of film-making and it ranks VERY HIGH in my Best Movies of all time!
Really appreciate this video essay pal 😃
Sliding door moment!! What a GREAT metaphor!!! I feel exactly the same thing!!! Like i ... in my mid 50ies..living open as gay since i was 15... finally undersands SO many things about the sufferings in my own life. And in my fellow gay brothers.
I saw it last week and I am still not recovered.
Thank you for sharing your point of view. You are very eloquent and I felt changed by hearing your experience of this film. As far as I'm concerned you hit the nail on the head with all the aspects especially the ending. I will hold this awareness close and bring it with me through my life. I am grateful for you.
This is a beautiful and very powerful review. Thank you! I think the film is a masterpiece and will very soon be considered a classic.
Thank you for putting this out into the world.
What a beautiful review. Summed up many of the same thoughts I had. You did a wonderful job.
Recently stumbled across your channel scrolling trying to fill my lonely days. Your voice itself cuts right through with empathy and deep understanding. Not seen the film, but immediately felt bonded to both the charactets who seem to reflect my personal circumstances. Suicidal thoughts seem to suggest a way out of the dark deep pit of unconnectedness, but the realisation that possibly at the heart of this ideation is some weird satisfaction that my estranged family would finally actually feel sorry for me, makes me see how revoltingly pathetic my existence really is. So I resolve to just go back and cuddle my naked self
Thanks for your review, very wise analysis of this beautiful film.
As films are always up for interpretation, I can add my own point of view: I can't help but feel terribly sad and devastated about Harry. Becuase that's what many of us face, too: not feeling like protagonists, not feeling seen or heard in conversations that are about us. We are told through the words of someone else. Not to fault Adam, beause he is not evil, but I find so tragic that we don't really get to know Harry, we don't know who he is, and he is told through what Adam imagines him to be. He is not to be saved, but just to be a thought. We are too late to his room, we are not able to save him by accompanying Adam on his journey. And that is the true tragedy. How some can heal, are able to overcome their own monsters that haunt them, yet others are not. Not because we (as a society) don't "want" them too, but because the circumstances are so. I felt more of a connection with Harry, perhaps, because I've felt alone in a trapped kind of way, not being able to be as seen as Adam.
That's what hurts the most.
I don't believe I have found the movie as hopeful (which is not at all bad, on the contrary, I felt seen, I felt represented). I do have to agree, however, that the tragic poetry of Adam finding Harry is in some ways comforting.
I really enjoyed your deep dive into this, thanks for sharing
Interesting and thoughtful review. Thank-you for your analysis.
I really loved the way you spoke about this movie. 💖
Thank you so much for your succinct and thoughtful analysis. It was very touching and resonated with a lot of my own experience and takeaways from such a beautiful film. 🧡
beautiful review, thank you ❤