Alternate Best Actor 2023: Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers

Andrew Scott did not receive an Oscar nomination, more disturbingly not even a BAFTA, I mean what the hell, for portraying Adam in All of Us Strangers. 

All of Us Strangers tells the tale of a middle aged writer starting a new relationship while seeming to be able to visit his deceased parents as he knew them as a child. 

Andrew Scott plays the writer as we open the film in his lonely room in a high-rise London apartment complex. Scott's performance in the opening is a man operating in his loneliness as the innate state of being. I think what is essential in his performance is he doesn't open with some overwrought note of suffering, rather what Scott portrays is almost a, not quite comfort, but a settled state of being as he moves around his apartment thinking about life, occasionally writing but also just listening to music or inane television. Scott's work has much within the silences about this as Adam goes about in his way, that just is, it isn't happiness he's exuding, nor is it this constant sorrow either, it is rather this long state of being where Scott alludes to as being something years the making. The first time we see him speak is when he opens the door to find seemingly his one neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal) knocking at his door, seeking company, romantically likely but also more directly just connection. Scott's performance in this scene portrays Adam's state for likely years at this point as he greets Harry with a very kind of reduced delivery. It isn't that he is being rude, or aggressively dismissive towards the man, he's rather being in this state of the self that feeds into the state of being alone. Scott responds just enough to everything Harry says, but only just enough to just be as pleasant as he'll be, until Harry tries to invite himself into Adam's apartment. Scott's reaction in this moment is genius in a way because there's so much there, even as it is relatively modest in terms of the "loudness" of performance, but there is so much texture. There's a glint in his eye of being intrigued, then in the same second there's a tightening, a sense of a man avoiding any potential wound the man could suffer from opening himself up to connection again. Scott shows in this moment Adam choosing to stay lonely but lonely in this way he's come to understand.

The crux of the film comes into being as Adam begins to think of his childhood for his writing and begins to visit his old house. Scott's silent work is consistently great in creating a tangible sense of the emotional state of Adam in each instance, and doesn't allow any dead air of pensive staring. Scott always develops this with purpose, and in the initial scene it is with this sense of confusion mixed in with a kind of pondering discovery as he, perhaps fantasy literally or metaphorically, sees his father as he knew him as a boy who beckons him to come along. Scott's performance is so important in not making this silly, because he creates this sense of discovery as he goes about it and this is a real man entering into this dream. Which initially it is as his family welcoming home as though he'd been on a long many year long trip away coming home after so much time. Scott's performance is so good by making it always so unbearably tangible in every conversation we see between him and his parents. The way he reacts to them is with this interest initially, this sense of "what is going on" but also the embracing of a discovery in the moment. In his initial scene, Scott's performance brings a nonchalance initially that in itself works so well in the man essentially trying to explain his life to his parents, who beam with pride at hearing that he's in London and a writer. Scott brings this simple modesty about Adam that is able to articulate both the son who doesn't want to seem boasting about his parents, perhaps even feels he hasn't lived up to enough dreams at times, while also not sure yet to make sure of this situation he finds himself in either. Scott's delivery of explaining himself not be a writer of particular note of any kind, with a blunt honesty about it, that reflect a man who still isn't sure of himself in so many ways, that contrasts so beautifully against his parents who are just in love with every word he is saying, as he seems to be living above and beyond the dreams they might've had for him. The scene being the ideal support for Adam to open new pathways for himself. 

Meanwhile back in his apartment it appears as though Adam is finally opening himself to anything as he tries to incite Harry into an invite again, which seemingly he rejects at first before later accepting and the two do begin a relationship. These scenes where I think Scott very much gives purpose for every encounter that we see between Harry and Adam, because there is more going on with the man. As what Scott performs so well is showing the way the lonely man who had settled opens himself to this experience. He articulates through every step so well, as even in the first encounter with the fairly direct, though not aggressive Harry, Scott has these perfectly implemented subtle moments where you do see surprise, a little hesitation in the man, before giving into the idea showing the man basically needing to learn to make connections again. Scott gives such a weight to the progression of each scene with Harry because he shows just how deep of a hole Adam was in, and slowly but surely we see Harry push him out of it. He and Mescal have great chemistry with one another, by the connection being a given but more so the dynamic that is crafted between the older gay man who lived through the far more prejudiced and dangerous era to Harry who could be more open in his life and experience. The scene where they speak to their mutual experiences, Scott's performance is again outstanding in underplaying the emotion while finding so much truth in it, because the past of his experience as a gay man is in the past, yet it isn't at all gone from his mind. Rather what Scott is able to portray is this sense of reasoning the past from himself, there's so much pain in Scott's expression but pain he's held in, he's adjusted, he's calibrated to where he is now, but still pain all the same. While never wasting hearing Harry's own story, as more accepted yet still an outsider, where Scott articulates every thought Adam is going through in his own experience, understanding and even falling into the memories of his parents. 

His next return to his parents is when only his mother (Claire Foy) is home, who at first is just excited to see her son again and commenting how much he looks like her father now that he is all grown up. Scott's performance again is so great because he not only makes the fantasy tangible, he makes it so strikingly powerful. In this case we have the son discovering his mother best he can and trying to reason with her, as she quickly comes to ask about his relationships, where Adam essentially comes out to her where she is taken aback, almost acting in denial to the statement. Scott is so great in the scene because his reaction in part is holding a lot in showing the man trying to almost forgive his mother for not accepting him right away while also being so evidently frustrated all in the same momentary reaction. His delivery is so good as he challenges her each time because Scott really brings this sharpness while not becoming overly aggressive. There is this sense of disbelief in every line that his mother can't accept him, but also this painful sense of almost an expectation as well. Scott articulates the moment so effectively because he is playing so much at once in trying to break down his mother's constrained perspective. Scott is challenging but challenging in a way in which he's almost angry at the whole prospect of having to ask. There's so many amazing moments as you just see Scott trying to not hate his mother, while wanting to entirely hate his mother at the same time. His eyes do so much in going between each phase, and his way of explaining every question of hers, as an almost "well duh" way of pointing out the obvious, while also kind of going slightly mad at the same time when having to have this conversation with his mother. The scene could've been easily overwrought if it had been just one note, but Scott goes through so much life, that every second of it feels brutally honest. 

The next moment he visits home he sees his father (Jamie Bell) alone rather than his mother. Where his mom was so blunt in her emotion he's instead dealing with his father who actually offers initially some comfort by saying his mother will get over it. Scott's great in the more guarded way he comes in first in his way in just asking as he can, which his dad bluntly breaks when saying he knew because "he couldn't throw a ball for shit". Scott's reaction with Bell, as fantastical as the situation is, feels so natural as they manage to naturally laugh in the moment even if the rather brutal reasoning on his dad's part. Scott's amazing though in the way he speaks to his dad so differently, where Scott shows in some ways trying to be more controlled, more direct, more like his dad's expected son. His delivery is more precise, more short, his attempt to hold the emotion in is more exact. His way of trying to peer into his dad's thoughts while also maintaining a certain control. Even when asking why he didn't come into his room when he heard him crying, Scott holds in so much anguish in the moment, and in such a bluntly convincing way in showing the man putting on the brave face for his father speaking so much to their relationship rather than his mothers. When his father attempts to offer his own apology in his way, Scott's shift to the good things they had in his memories, Scott speaks from the heart with such warmth to just the simple memories of enjoying the family Christmas decorations and trying to ease the tension in such a natural way. The two kind of maintain their distance, then proceeds to tear my heart out, as both break as his dad apologizes for not comforting him as a child, and Adam trying to say it is okay. With both actors bringing such beautiful honesty and comfort to the scene, of the father and son embracing after so many years of distance. 

Meanwhile we see the progression with Harry's relationship where Scott's performance articulates this gradual removal from himself from that self-imposed exile of self from connecting to others in each subsequent scene. Scott always being so genuine, such as a simple moment such as requesting Harry not watch him undress, despite the two having had sex already, filled with sincerity that speaks to Adam as very much finding a pathway out of his shell he's put himself into. The moments of them speaking growing in the sense of comfort in their interaction, and that malaise that had defined Adam before that point in being lost as he is alone. There's a simple power in the moments of the two speaking to each other in their tender calm they have in their experience with one another. This opens up as we watch the two go clubbing, which could just be a scene about direction and visual imagery,  but Scott's performance still stands out within this. As in every little interaction we see through the sequence speaks so much more to the sense of Adam going to go enjoy life in a way he hasn't in some time, or maybe even simply hasn't it. Scott's great because he doesn't play it with a simple ease, rather he shows the man discovering every moment of each experience, and embracing it that builds this at first little bit of joy that expands. Expanding in a way that is so potent in Scott's performance because we've seen where this man was in the opening scenes, and he shows this growth in such a natural and wholly captivating way. 

There is a shift though in the scenes with his parents which is a kind of regression for Adam as we see him with his parents, and Scott's performance again takes a big risk that if not pulled off perfectly, would be kind of terrible, of course it's the former. That is portraying this almost infantile manner he begins as he returns to his parents again in Christmas, as his physical performance is much smaller, emphasizing more of a child's size but also deferring state to his parents, and looking up to his parents celebrating Christmas, with both of them wholly embracing him, Scott manages to show Adam kind of giving into the pleasantries of the past by indeed being a child again. Scott makes a heartwarming moment in the way you see how much Adam appreciates getting to live this experience again with the sense of nostalgia in his eyes, while also showing the danger as he is indeed giving into the idea of the fantasy. With the moments where now his traveling between the kinds of worlds he's experiencing he's in a way much more lost and needing than he had been in a way, as he becomes dependent on the visits. His moment of trying to stop his parents from going out, where they are destined to die in a car accident, Scott's delivery of "promise me you won't go out", is incredible work as again it is the combination between the sort of child's worry in his voice but with the sense and knowledge of the adult. Scott manages to be neither purely one way or the other, and is both at once in a way that shouldn't work perhaps, though entirely does. 

The following scene with his parents Scott is magnificent in his ability to be able to kind of show both the dangers and beauty of being stuck in the past, and the struggle to reckon with it. The scene where he explains to his own mother, his life after he died, his initial delivery is so poignant because he does speak like a little kid just recounting something to his mom in the night, yet with so much more emotion of the man who knows so much more behind each word. Scott brings this unique vulnerability as his mother apologizes to him for her actions, and he tries to comfort her. And another scene that perhaps also just rips out my heart once again, when Adam tells his mother what he would've done with his parents through his life if they had lived. Scott's performance is so heartbreaking because there's such a wistful dreaming quality that speaks so much to the boy just wishing for the simple joys of a family. Even noting they had to fight but with a smile as just part of being a family and being together being the important point. Scott's kind moment of realization of the pain within it all being so heart wrenching as again his performance, just uncovers the level of vulnerability as the man needing to realize the truth of his loss. His breakdown back as the "adult" Adam being just all of the blunt sorrows in a moment that Scott opens up as the most tremendous wound being opened up. His detailing of the entire death is great acting, as again the adult, where the adult tries to distance himself from years past, where Scott is carrying so much shaking horror of every thought of thinking of the terrible death of their parents. Scott putting the years into it with every word filled with all of the searing pain beneath it, but the man attempted to articulate his defense of being isolated from his parents. 

A merging occurs where Adam brings Harry in an attempt to meet his parents, though his parents refuse to let him enter. Scott's extraordinary in the scene in showing sort of the mania of Adam on the brink of trying to deal with the loss of his parents again in his experience. Scott being filled with the manic desperation attempting to be the young man attempting to bring his loved ones together. Scott shows the man trying to live all his lives at once, and becoming lost. Which leads to a great scene with both parents trying to be tough love of having them say that they have to let him go and he has to let them go in order for him to be able to move on. Scott is so great in the scene because through every moment you see in his eyes a man trying to live out the joy of his parents, and just closing himself up from the reality that he must separate from this fantasy. Scott brings within his performance this aggressive force of the man just trying to hold off on the pain just that much more, being almost brat in a way when physically trying to silence his dad as the boy who doesn't want to have to grow up. As natural though in so meekly delivering "it's not been long enough" as still the little boy just hoping to be with his parents just a little more time than he had been able to be granted in life. Scott again being so outstanding by being the man and the boy, not as two separate parts but as one going through the grief. To ease the blow, the parents invited him out to the mall for one more time together. I love Scott's reaction to their invite, as he shakes his head stubbornly as the child, but the man's eyes recognize it as what needs to happen. Scott decides to rip my heart out one more time for good measure in their sequence of a final goodbye, where every moment of Scott's performance is some of the most moving acting of 2023. As every moment of realization of his loss again, with just the simple appreciation of being with them, and articulation of the mix between the man trying to hold on yet realizing he must move on. Scott's fluctuation between what should be such unbelievable extremes just are the most genuine sincerity that deliver every bit of poignancy to this moment of the man and the boy accepting their deaths finally, as best as he can. Scott's "I love you very much dad" and comfort to his mom, as she finally comforts him, is wonderful as it has such complex emotional truth to the interaction yet feels effortless in Scott's devastating performance. Scott showing every bit of love that was there from the son to the parents, as a boy, as a man, but with every sense of the loss interwoven innately in one final stunning tapestry of the relationship with his parents. Scott never shying from the beauty of the simplicity of the love of parents and child, but also finding every hint of nuance in the complexity of it all the same. It is never just one thing, but everything, that delivers such a tragic poignancy and not only makes the fantasy tangible, it makes it so powerfully incisive. 

The final "twist" of the film, which I think is necessary from how Harry is written in what comes out, though I don't think was entirely necessary in terms of the overall film, that spoilers being Harry is also dead the whole time and has merely been speaking to his ghost as well, as just this film really isn't about the "gotcha" to begin with, regardless, it still mostly works for me due to the performances of Mescal and Scott. What Scott uses in this moment is to articulate the final true growth of Adam in the moment in trying to finally embrace others out of his loneliness despite having in fact lost another opportunity to do so. Scott's great by very much playing the reaction to Mescal's performance, of the dying man destroyed by his own loneliness, while Scott brings such a poignancy in his understanding, comforting and alto together self-actualized manner as he explains his earlier fears that prevented from reaching out. Scott's "I found you" to give any sense of care to the man in his final moments brings such a beauty in just the idea of human connection in any way, and Scott's expression that shows the power of in a way simply being seen and acknowledged. The final scene shows Scott embracing fully another, even within these circumstances, as someone who can reckon now with his past, and embrace his life even as he helps yet another dead person move on. Speaking now with this certain emotional confidence that is life affirming with each word, and his look into the other man now fully being without fear or being stuck within his terrible grief. This is masterful work by Andrew Scott, as there simply is not a false moment in the entire film. And this is a performance that manages every difficult emotional scene, every strange shift in style or circumstance, that not only makes them work, it makes them feel entirely profound and only ever intensely impactful. It is very complex work in terms of all that Scott needs to portray, take in and illustrate, yet never does feel anything but wholly genuine in its simpler core elements that binds everything together. It is a tremendous performance in every sense, that breaks my heart in a way few performances ever do.