Entertainment
Andrew Haigh felt the tug of telling his story; he didn't know how deep he'd have to go
Most of us want to connect and be understood. Most of us want to feel less alone in the world. It’s why we read books and watch films. Taichi Yamada’s novel “Strangers,” a ghost story set in Japan, may not be my story, and yet it spoke to me on a profoundly personal level. As Harada, the melancholic screenwriter, wanders back to his childhood home on the outskirts of Tokyo to reconnect with his parents, I was transported to my own childhood home, pulled into my own past. His story was becoming my own, and that is what I needed to put on the page.
Filmmaking is always exposing, but for this movie to work, I knew I had to dig further into my own life than I had before in my work. I needed to be specific, hoping that honesty would unlock the universal themes of the piece. It is worth stating that this is not an autobiography; unlike the protagonist, my parents are still alive, but the story offered the scope for me to examine loneliness and loss, and how these experiences shape our childhood and ultimately define the adults we become. It allowed me to explore my understanding of love, both familial and romantic, and how those dual aspects can inform each other, for better and worse.
Unlike the original source material, there was never a question that I would keep the central character straight. If this was ultimately a story about love, then it was important to me that it would portray queer love. I had been looking to say something about growing up gay in the 1980s for some time and how that experience haunts many of us like a ghost, but I hadn’t found the right story until now. Telling any queer story can be a challenging experience. The pressure of representation can be a heavy burden, but I knew I wanted my focus to be narrow, to the experience of a distinct generation of gay men who grew up in a certain time and place. Again, specificity became the mantra.
The script came together during the pandemic: trapped in my apartment, separated from family, fearful of what might happen to the world and everyone in it. I dug deep into my own memories: photos, diaries, music. Many of my own stories became Adam’s. And as I wrote about my protagonist returning to his family home, it was my own childhood home I pictured. And then, as we prepared the production, I made the decision to shoot in that actual location, a place I hadn’t been back to in more than 40 years. I wasn’t totally prepared for how it would make me feel, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
It was a strange experience working in that space, shooting scenes in my parents’ old bed or around the Christmas tree in a version of my old front room. I felt dragged backwards and forwards in time. I developed eczema again, something I hadn’t had since I was young. The body seems to remember. I wasn’t the happiest of kids. Interestingly, it seemed to have an effect on many of the cast and crew too, all navigating their own complicated relationships with their pasts as the film’s themes emerged throughout the production. Again the specific seemed to be becoming universal.
Paul Mescal, left, and Andrew Scott star in “All of Us Strangers.”
(Searchlight Pictures)
Editing was a long process. For months my editor and I were locked alone in a room trying to craft the unusual tone, the liminal space in which the film exists. With it came the growing anxiety that in sharing this film, I would be revealing too much of myself. As we shared cuts, I could sense how over-sensitive I was to any criticisms of the film, feeling it was, in effect, a criticism of me. But if I wanted the film to radiate a certain vulnerability, then it had to contain my vulnerability too.
Now the film is out and seemingly connecting with audiences. It is reassuring to know that perhaps we did something right. We managed to excavate a feeling that others can recognize. We found the universal in the personal. It has allowed people to reflect on their own lives and the important people within it.
I’ve been asked if I feel liberated somehow now that the film is out there. That is a hard question to answer just yet. I do feel that making the film has given me a greater understanding of the nature of love and its power to soften the harder edges of life, but it has not been an easy ride. Nor, perhaps, should it be. Making any kind of art is often both as joyous and as painful as life itself, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying.
I’ll end with a quote from Jung. “Real liberation comes not from glossing over or repressing painful states of feeling, but only from experiencing them to the full.”
Movie Reviews
Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day early Rotten Tomatoes score finally revealed following wave of first reviews
The reviews are in for Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi flick Disclosure Day – and so far the consensus is that the great director has delivered another worthy addition to his canon of alien movies.
The film – which is released in UK cinemas today – currently boasts a score of 85 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes after 137 reviews, while its score on fellow review aggregator is 74 based on 47 reviews.
While those scores are a little lower than his previous two movies The Fabelmans (92 per cent on RT and 85 on Metacritic) and West Side Story (91 per cent on RT and 85 on Metacritic), it still indicates that the vast majority of critics were broadly on board with new movies.
Radio Times gave a mixed 3 star review in the film, praising the iconic filmmaker for injecting some of his classic awe-inspiring moments into the movie that “highlight why for so long Spielberg has been considered the unimpeachable king of entertaining big-budget filmmaking”.
We also gave a positive verdict on the performances – particularly from Emily Blunt – but remarked that the screenplay from regular Spielberg collaborator David Koepp “has a clunky and unfocused quality that occasionally makes it difficult to truly fall under the film’s spell”.
Elsewhere, the film received 4-star reviews from The Guardian, The Independent, The Evening Standard and Empire Magazine, while on the other end of the spectrum there were 2-star verdicts from The Times, The Telegraph, Little White Lies and BBC.
Meanwhile, the film perhaps received more glowing praise across the pond, with top marks from RogerEbert.com and positive write-ups in The Atlantic, IndieWire, Vulture and The Hollywood Reporter.
Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo and Colin Firth, with the synopsis reading: “As a massive government conspiracy unravels, a targeted whistleblower races against time to bring about the extraordinary event that will change human history forever: the day of ultimate alien disclosure.”
Disclosure Day is released in cinemas on Wednesday 10 June 2026.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Entertainment
Hiker who died in Runyon Canyon ID’d as Hollywood screenwriter, pal of Caitlyn Jenner
Authorities have identified the hiker who suffered a fatal medical emergency in Runyon Canyon as 78-year-old screenwriter William Hasley.
Hasley was a veteran TV writer who taught screenwriting classes at UCLA Extension. He was also a friend of Caitlyn Jenner and helped write the former athlete’s motivational book “Finding the Champion Within,” according to his biography.
The L.A. County medical examiner released Hasley’s identity Tuesday but had yet to rule on his cause of death.
More than two dozen personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a report of a hiker in grave medical condition off Nichols Canyon Road near Hollywood Boulevard shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday.
A helicopter was used to reach the patient and allow paramedics to provide urgent medical care. They were unable to save him, and he was declared dead shortly after, according to the LAFD.
Hasley hailed from Pittsburgh and played university football before venturing to Hollywood to pursue his dreams as a writer. He wrote on 37 episodes of “The Smurfs” in the late 1980s and early ’90s as well as several episodes of “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” according to IMDB. His TV writing credits also included “Swift Justice,” “Ghost Stories,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Young Riders” and “Highway to Heaven.”
He was able to channel his love of sports while working with NBC on the network’s project “Star Salute to the U.S. Olympic Team,” where he met Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, according to his professional biography.
The pair became friends, and Hasley went on to help write a book about Jenner’s philosophy on overcoming adversity in sports and life. He was commissioned to ghostwrite several other motivational books including “Passion, Profit, & Power” for hypnotist Marshall Sylver and “The Slight Edge” for self-help expert Jeff Olson.
Hasley loved sharing his passion for writing with students at UCLA and described the process of writing as akin to assembling a puzzle, where one tries many different combinations of pieces before finding the perfect fit, according to his teaching biography.
“I personally believe that when you know your characters well enough they will start dictating their actions,” he wrote. “When that happens writing becomes a euphoric experience.”
In addition to teaching and writing, he enjoyed golfing, horseback riding, fighting City Hall over an environmental issue, volunteering in soup kitchens and speaking to youth organizations, according to his bio.
Hasley was formerly married to actor Robin Riker, best known for her roles on “Brothers” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
He lived in the Hollywood Hills not far from where he suffered the medical emergency. A neighbor told the New York Post they had seen him earlier Saturday carrying groceries home. “It’s very sad he had to die all alone like that,” the neighbor said.
Times staff writer Sonja Sharp contributed to this report.
Movie Reviews
Film Review: I Love Boosters – SLUG Magazine
Film Reviews
I Love Boosters
Director: Boots Riley
Neon, Focus Features, Universal Pictures
In Theaters: 05.22.2026
Recent times have shown us the impending horrors of late-stage capitalism. Quite the statement to start with.
Well… knowing this audience, this is an obvious statement. One could go on and on about how much this system has taken from people and easily become lost in the chaos. However, Boots Riley’s newest movie chooses to embrace chaos — a colorful and absurd chaos, that is. I Love Boosters is an afro-surrealist dreamscape that interrogates the hypocrisies and contradictions of capitalism while highlighting the importance of community, action and especially disruption. The film designs a new look for the revolution that shocks and inspires the audience to take action.
Keke Palmer (One of Them Days, Akeelah and the Bee) stars as Corvette, an aspiring fashion designer and leader of the booster team, The Velvet Gang, a group that shoplifts high-end clothes and sells them at a discount price. Corvette works alongside her two friends, Sade (Naomi Ackie, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Mickey 17) and Mariah (Taylour Paige, The Toxic Avenger, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) as they try to make ends meet. When Corvette discovers that designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore, St. Elmo’s Fire, The Substance) stole the design she had submitted for a contest, she targets Metro Design, Smith’s fashion chain. In the midst of their plan, they meet and team up with Jianhu (Poppy Liu, Hacks, Dog Man), a Chinese factory worker protesting the poor working conditions of Christie Smith’s factories. Things get even more insane when they discover that Jianhu has a teleporter — and uses it in their heists to rob stores, leading viewers to discover more about the device.
Those expecting a typical narrative about revolution and taking down the system won’t find that here. Rather, I Love Boosters tries to be a revolution in its own way against Hollywood and the looming dread of the AI bubble through its storytelling and filmmaking. Riley takes full advantage of this medium and builds a world that is bursting with color and off-the-wall visuals — like the Smith’s slanted building or the crazy costumes worn by The Velvet Gang. He even goes as far as calling back to classic films like Jason and the Argonauts, with a live-action/stop-motion hybrid sequence that brings joy to anyone who wants tactile-ness back in movies.
Riley also forgoes any semblance of subtlety, but still manages to pack so much substance into the film. Of course, the visual gags can be peeled back to reveal deeply harsh truths about our world. Mariah’s hilarious trick to lighten her skin by holding her breath speaks volumes about the exhaustion black people deal with when code-switching. Or take the entire dissertation we get mid-way through the film about dialectical materialism, essentially telling the audience that Karl Marx is required reading for a workers’ revolution.
The film also acknowledges the messiness that comes with organizing and how acceleration is necessary for meaningful change. This goes without even diving into the uniquely black aspects of the film. The parts that speak specifically to the ones who lead the way in times of revolution and the roadblocks they face, from the appropriation of their art to the exploitation of their labor.
By focusing on the fashion industry, Riley dissects classism and elitism that exists in the space that is meant to celebrate human expression. The film basically states that those at the top are the artists, while everyone else is the art. In other words, those at the top shape the world into what they want it to be. But in truth, everyone wants to be an artist and put some of themselves into the world. When we do that, we can undoubtedly create a more equitable society.
Praise should also be given to the actors in this film. The leading ladies disappear into their roles, while bringing a level of charm and energy to every scene that makes you believe in their friendship. Of course, Paige steals the show in every scene she is in with her endearing performance that brings out the best in Palmer and Ackie. Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Iron Man 2) and Will Poulter (We’re the Millers, Midsommar) were also standouts. Cheadle, as the pyramid-schemer Dr. Jack, gives a great performance through layers of make-up and Poulter steals the show in every scene he is in as the uptight, petty Metro Designs branch manager Grayson.
While I praised the film for exploring so many meaningful aspects of revolution and actualization, you could still feel how busy this film truly is, which left certain ideas feeling underdeveloped. LaKeith Stanfield’s (Knives Out, Sorry to Bother You) character touches on the idea that men often steal women’s ambitions and souls to fulfill their own needs. While this did give us quite a memorable scene, his presence felt tacked on. Also, with so much happening in the movie, there were moments where the story felt like it was lost. Nonetheless, Riley manages to bring it all together in the end.
Once again delivering a scathing criticism of capitalism that is equal parts hilarious and optimistic, Riley’s approach to storytelling oozes with unconventionality, and through it he creates imaginative visuals that both shock and impress you. At the end of the day, I Love Boosters is a celebration of collective action that reminds us just how interconnected our issues are. —Angela Garcia
Read more film reviews by Angela Garcia:
Film Review: You, Me & Tuscany
Last Call for Secondhand Screenings!
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