All Of Us Strangers is Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s Strangers. It is Haigh’s most conceptual film and, by a hair, it’s probably his best work yet. In one scene, Adam (Andrew Scott), a London-based Gen-Xer, shows his childhood photos to his mysterious Gen-Z neighbour/ possible boyfriend Harry (Paul Mescal). On a whim, he decides to visit the suburb where he spent his childhood. In a shop, he runs into his Dad (Jamie Bell). Dutifully, Dad invites him home to have dinner together with his Mum (Claire Foy). During dinner, they talk like equals. Although, one of the topics involves Adam explaining what a writer does to parents who, because parents, never understand what writers do.

An already complex dynamic, All Of Us Strangers pushes further because of how Dad and Mum are. They look the same age as they do thirty years prior before dying in a car accident during Christmas. They’re basically younger than Adam is during present day, a svelte man in his forties. Dad and Mum give him a blank invitation to come home whenever he wants. It’s an invitation he accepts, even if it means revealing his queer identity to his level one Thatcherite mother. He goes back and forth between them and trying to make a future with Harry. All Of Us Strangers, then, has its protagonist holding on to these other characters even if we all know that nothing lasts forever.

All Of Us Strangers depicts disruption through palimpsest. During one of Adam’s visits, his Dad plays his own father’s favourite song. Adam’s suburban Arcadia feels normal compared to his relatively real world in present day London. For some reason, non-circuit gay clubs still exist there and they play 80s synth music instead of the pop girlies who queer people fawn over nowadays. Another equally strange place is Harry’s apartment. There, static is showing instead of the rotating wallpaper that smart TVs normally have now. What’s on screen is either Haigh’s highly fictional fantasy of London, or a real London that makes me wish I could afford to go there. And about the TV, Harry may have just pressed the input button on his remote.

All of Us Strangers is a film about ghosts and thus, has no rules. There’s an organic feel to its anachronisms though, these Easter eggs (sorry) like remnants of the past. These things are mostly Adam’s but the other characters have these things too. Things that they can’t let go or things that pop up that either they or the viewer notice. Another noticeable element is how the first act depicts London and its two lovers. The film hides their faces behind shadows in comparison to Adam’s parents who bathe in the kind of glowing light that he needs in his life. The film’s most indelible scenes, though, include the family. One of this year’s best films has a father hugging his son, and a mother singing a Pet Shop Boys song to say she’s sorry.

Watch All of Us Strangers in select theatres.