Hot Priest Andrew Scott to Get Down and Dirty in New Gay Film

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are going to play lovers in the upcoming film Strangers. And it sounds like this will not be your typical queer drama—it’s part surreal ghost story, part existential mystery, and part steamy romance.

According to Variety, the film is being helmed by director Andrew Haigh, creator of Looking and queer indie darling Weekend. The plot is loosely adapted from Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel of the same name, which follows a Tokyo TV writer’s encounter with the ghosts of his parents. Here’s hoping that “loose” in this context means extremely gay creative liberties.

“Strangers follows screenwriter Adam (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,” the synopsis reads.

“As Adam and Harry get closer, Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where he discovers that his long-dead parents are both living and look the same age as the day they died over 30 years ago.”

Although phrases like “chance encounter” and “get closer” are sufficiently vague, there are rumors that the relationship between Scott and Mescal doesn’t leave much to the imagination. If Haigh’s previous work is anything to go by, that’s almost certainly the case.

andrew scott and paul mescal are playing lovers in andrew haigh’s adaptation of taichi yamada’s strangers

a tale about grief, existential loneliness, unending longing for human connection. and yes they do explore each other’s bodies. pic.twitter.com/MUuMCf2DHR

— david (@IaureIheII) November 16, 2022

Scott, who is out, is known for playing gay-coded villain Moriarity in Sherlock and the hot priest in Fleabag. Mescal is known as the breakout star from Normal People and for his work in the recent acclaimed A24 film Aftersun.

Adam’s parents are played by Claire Foy—who portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of The Crown—and Jamie Bell—who played Elton John’s collaborator Bernie Taupin in Rocketman.

Although few official details about the production have been officially released, photos circulating online suggest that filming has already wrapped.

Wrap photo of Andrew Haigh’s film STRANGERS with Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal seen there down in the front pic.twitter.com/Ltlhv0ldgN

— Jason Adams (@JAMNPP) August 14, 2022

In the meantime, we are eagerly looking forward to watching Scott and Mescal become much more than “strangers” onscreen.