Do we have a potential gay Oscar contender for next year already on our radar?
It seems like the upcoming film Strangers, written and directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal could be just that film!
A loose adaptation of the 1987 Japanese novel of the same name by Taichi Yamada, Strangers follows a screenwriter (Scott) who, “one night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, has a chance encounter with his mysterious neighbor Harry (Mescal) that punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.”
“As Adam and Harry get closer, Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where he discovers that his long-dead parents (Foy and Bell) are both living and look the same age as the day they died over 30 years ago,” the film's description reads.
Now, we know that Strangers will be released in theaters this fall, perfect for an Oscars push. Mescal was just recently nominated at the 2023 Academy Awards for his role in Aftersun.
The movie comes from gay director Andrew Haigh, who is known for writing and directing the award-winning gay film Weekend and being the co-creator of the HBO drama series Looking. Of course, the description, Scott starring, and Haigh making the film have us questioning whether or not it will be gay. And we think it just might be!
According to The Daily Beast, the movie is very likely to be gay, not just because of its director and writer, but because of the character played by Mescal.
In the description for the film, Mescal is a “mysterious neighbor” who gets “closer” to Scott and “punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.” In the book, the character who fits that description is a woman named Kei.
So, it definitely looks like we are getting a gay romance between Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal! And, they’ll be joined by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as Scott’s dead parents. This is an all-star cast, with a critically acclaimed director and writer. If that doesn’t spell potential Oscar, I don’t know what does!
