Movie · 2023 · Romance, Drama, Fantasy · 1h 45m · R · English
Curator score: 8.5/10 (769.3K ratings)
All of us hurt. All of us hope. All of us love.
Overview
One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.5/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.93/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Metacritic: 90
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Andrew Haigh
Production
Film4 Productions, Blueprint Pictures, Searchlight Pictures, TSG Entertainment
Cast
Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Carter John Grout, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy, Ami Tredrea, Sean Tizzard
Curator Review
Verdict
A devastating, intimate grief romance with a supernatural premise that feels emotionally precise rather than gimmicky. It’s especially rewarding if you like melancholic, adult queer stories, memory-haunted family drama, and performances that stay raw and exposed.
Best for
viewers who want a deeply emotional cry
fans of queer romance with supernatural elements
people drawn to grief, memory, and family trauma
audiences who appreciate restrained, performance-led drama
viewers who like lonely urban mood pieces
Skip if
you want a light or hopeful romance
you dislike emotionally punishing films
you prefer plot-heavy fantasy over psychological intimacy
you’re not in the mood for themes of loss, regret, and unresolved family pain
Overview
Andrew Haigh turns a simple encounter into something aching, tender, and quietly uncanny. The film uses its fantasy premise sparingly, letting loneliness, desire, and grief do most of the heavy lifting. What emerges is less a ghost story than a story about the dead spaces people carry inside themselves.
Worth noting
Andrew Scott gives the film its fragile center, balancing guardedness with a need for connection that never feels forced. Paul Mescal brings warmth and danger in equal measure, and the chemistry between them gives the movie its pulse. The tone is intimate and nocturnal, with London rendered as a place of isolation, memory, and emotional suspension.
Bottom line
This is a film about the pain of unfinished conversations and the way the past can remain physically present. It’s sad, but not empty; the sadness is the point, and the film understands how grief can be both devastating and life-affirming. If you like your romances haunted by memory and your melodramas played with restraint, it lands hard.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Karsten (4★) · 32130 likes
if paul mescal hits the dance floor in the movie it’s gonna be a bad time
Susi (4.5★) · 27274 likes
"It's okay, it happened a long time ago.""Yeah, I don't think that matters."
devastatingly life affirming. we're all we've got.
zoë rose bryant (4.5★) · 18794 likes
paul mescal always at the scene of the crime in one of the saddest movies you’ve ever seen in your entire life
mira (5★) · 17037 likes
i cried so hard i almost vomited. i also saw paul mescals ass. what more could a girl want
Vivian (5★) · 15886 likes
Okay so Daisy Edgar jones phoebe Waller bridge lesbian film when????