All of Us Strangers Ending Explained: Is Adam dead?

After watching All of Us Strangers. many fans are desperately trying to understand the ending after the shocking twist confused quite a lot of viewers.

All of Us Strangers was released in cinemas in the UK last week and viewers were treated to a heartbreaking romantic drama starring Normal People's Paul Mescal and Fleabag's Andrew Scott. The film was beautiful and heartbreaking but also incredibly confusing as the twist at the very end of the film shocked a lot of viewers. So what did the ending of All of Us Strangers mean? Here's what we know and what the director of the film has explained...

All of Us Strangers Ending Explained

At the end of the film, fans were delighted as Adam (Andrew Scott) was finally able to deal with his past and say farewell to the ghosts of his parents who accepted his homosexuality and encouraged him to give things a real go with Harry (Paul Mescal) and enjoy the present rather than being consumed with grief about the loss of his childhood and parents. 

Just as fans expected Adam and Harry to finally begin a relationship, hopes were shattered as Adam walked into Harry's flat for the first time and found that he was dead, and had been dead for a long time. 

It was then revealed that Harry had actually died the night that he first met Adam. After being rejected by Adam, and struggling to adjust to his new lonely life in London, Harry returned to his own flat and take drugs and drink until he passed away. As he was wearing the same pink jumper, it was clear that he died that first night and Adam's relationship was only with Harry's ghost. 

Adam then held Harry as he mourned his own death and the fact that nobody had noticed that he had died and his body had been left to decay in his flat for several weeks or potentially months. The ending then showed Harry and Adam becoming a ball of light which could be interpreted as him passing to the other side and finding peace in the afterlife.

But some fans were confused, does this final scene mean that Adam was also dead all along? Was the building some kind of purgatory for souls what did it all mean?

Is Adam dead in All of Us Strangers?

No. Unlike Harry, Adam was not revealed to also be dead. The director seems to say that Adam is the only character left alive at the film's end. Although the ending is very much open to interpretation, Andrew Haigh, the director, suggested a paranormal element is at play - and the ending is open to interpretation.

The director spoke to Radio Times about whether this film was supernatural or whether Adam's experiences with ghosts were just happening inside his head. The director explained that magical realism was perhaps at play, "So even though it is there is definitely…I don't want to use the word supernatural, but there is an element of it, that is outside of naturalism, let's say," he said. 

This would suggest Adam wasn't dead along with his parents and Harry, but just able to interact with ghosts.

In another interview with Time, the director was asked if the film can be viewed as Adam working through his writer's block and drawing out old memories from music and photographs, suggesting it was all taking place in Adam's mind. 

"You could definitely read it as that, but as a person, he's wanting to write to understand himself. That's what so many writers are doing. He's delving into his past, and then the past comes alive," said the director, refusing to give a clear answer and preferring the audience to draw their own conclusions about what is real.