“They Say it’s a Very Lonely Kind of Life“: Queer Loneliness in Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers (2023) and Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country (2017)

This article considers the relationship between loneliness and queerness suggested by the quotation in its title, taken from Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers (2023). Throughout, I trace the causes and consequences of such a "queer loneliness" in both that film and Francis Lee's God's Own Country (2017). Despite the prevalence of loneliness in queer narratives, fictional and lived, queer loneliness has not received the critical attention paid to other negative queer emotions. To redress this oversight, I begin by considering the causes of queer loneliness and how the films' narratives complicate traditional explanations (the closet, rurality). Instead, I suggest, the films locate their characters' loneliness in perceived hostility from the world and an inability to connect with family and friends. I continue by considering the consequences of this loneliness in the films. I suggest the temporality of All of Us Strangers can be traced to Adam's loneliness, referencing queer temporality theory by Jack Halberstam and Eve Sedgwick. Finally, I follow Sara Ahmed's suggestion of queer loneliness as a generative emotion, re-appraising the depictions of loneliness in the films and arguing that, in the experiences of queer loneliness presented, loneliness allows new forms of connection to be made between characters.