Join us for a screening of Andrew Haigh's film All of Us Strangers (2024) starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. The screening will be followed by a post-screening discussion as part of Dr Darren Elliott-Smith's research project The Struggle is Real: Queer Horror and Trauma.
About the film:
Directed by Andrew Haigh (Weekend, Looking) All of Us Strangers (2024) is a critically celebrated drama starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, which follows Adam a lonely gay writer having moved into a seemingly empty tower block on the outskirts of London. One night he is disturbed by XX (Mescal) the only other person living in the flats - and with whom be begins a romantic relationships. His cloistered existence begins to be challenged, shaking the walls of isolation he places around him and allowing him a chance to confront his traumatic past. He begins to visit his parents who have been long dead, at their home in Croydon where they remain the same age as when they died. All of Us Strangers is a melodrama that borrows conventions and aesthetics from Gothic horror texts and is a truly hauntological tale that considers, loss, grief, self-hate, internalised homophobia, desire and loneliness.
About the post-screening discussion:
The screening will be followed by a post-screening discussion where the film's themes and representations will be considered in contrast and comparison with audiences' own lived experiences of difference, loneliness, isolation, desire, and trauma. We will ask those joining the discussion to think about the ways in which we engage with film and TV shows in order to find expression and identification in a world that increasingly feels oppressive for those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Please note: the post-screening discussion is entirely optional. Participants who do decide to join us are able to leave the discussion at any time, and a quiet space will also be available should anyone feel they need some time on their own.
About Dr Elliott-Smith's research project:
Queer Horror is a sub-genre that describes horror and Gothic media that has been reclaimed by LGBTQ+ communities. Queer Horror often confronts, reinterprets and works through previously oppressive tropes and conventions from the genre to allow for an expression of trauma, anxiety and desire felt deeply by LGBTQ+ folks in the recent difficult cultural moment. This series of screenings is programmed by the University of Stirling/Creative Stirling as part of an ongoing community/academic project entitled The Struggle is Real: Queer Horror and Trauma. Taking some key examples from recent cinema, these film screenings will be introduced by published academics working in the field of Film, TV and Gender Studies and will be followed by post-screening discussions around the themes and experiences raised by and represented in the films.
Please note: this event is 18+.