Strangers

Paul Sturgis is a retired bank manager who lives alone in a dark little flat. He takes pleasure in small exchanges with strangers: the cheerful Australian girl who cuts his hair, the lady at the drycleaners. His only relative is a widowed cousin by marriage – herself a virtual stranger – to whom he pays ritualistic visits on a Sunday afternoon. Trying to make sense of his current state, and fearing that his destiny may be to die among strangers, Sturgis trawls through memories of his previous relationships and finds himself longing for companionship, or at the very least a conversation. But then a chance encounter – with a recently divorced and demanding younger woman – shakes up his routine and when an old girlfriend appears on the scene, Sturgis is forced to make a decision about how (and with whom) he wants to spend the rest of his days...