Ready for Paul Mescal in Gladiator II? Watch one of his best performances right now on Hulu

One of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year is Ridley Scott's sequel to Gladiator, coming 24 years after the original starring Russell Crowe. It's been decades in the making for the beloved action film to continue with a follow-up, and we don't have to wait long now to see it. Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal stars in Gladiator II as a former heir to the Roman Empire, Lucius Verus, whose home is invaded by Roman soldiers. Mescal is joined by Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and other familiar faces.

Gladiator II will no doubt be a box office smash when it's released in theaters on Nov. 22, 2024, but in the meantime, I'd recommend getting familiar with the sequel's star. Mescal has been an indie movie darling since his film debut in Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter, but it's no surprise he's been picking up big-budget titles as of late. He's incredibly talented and deserves all the success he's seeing. Not sure who Mescal even is? If you're excited about Gladiator II, you should watch some of his other work, including Andrew Haigh's 2023 film All of Us Strangers.

All of Us Strangers is a touching look at love and loss

Mescal plays the supporting role alongside lead Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers, which is based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The British romance drama follows a lonely writer named Adam (Scott), who lives in London and is forced to confront his complicated past as he begins to visit his childhood home. Amid his soul searching, Adam grows close with his neighbor Harry (Mescal), who seems to have a substance abuse problem. As Adam relives his childhood memories, he also begins to see and speak with his parents, who died in a car accident, hallucinating them there in their home all these years later.

Through Adam's hallucinations of his mother (Claire Foy) and father (Jamie Bell), he's able to work through some of his trauma and lifelong insecurities as he talks to them about his sexuality and how devastating their deaths were. Amid his trips to his childhood home outside of London, Adam spends more time with Harry in the city, clubbing together and falling in love. But Adam is clearly not in a good headspace and Harry starts to realize it.

Of course, I won't get into major spoilers here if you haven't seen the movie, but there are straight-up heartbreaking moments that had me bawling in the movie theater. Mescal and Scott have such great chemistry and give really poignant performances that will stick with you. And though the movie is very upsetting, there are glimmers of hope when seeing two people fall in love and the dynamics of a genuinely happy family.

Though Mescal isn't the lead, his performance is very memorable and unlike anything he's done before. He's tragically beautiful, haunting, and seductive all at once, and it's impossible not to become fascinated by his character from his very first scene.

All of Us Strangers was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, and Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for his leading performance. However, the movie marked one of the biggest snubs at the 2024 Academy Awards, something I will never understand.

Looking for more Mescal in your life? Normal People, in which he stars opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones, is also streaming on Hulu right now. Here's a list of his other movies which are not available on Hulu:

• Aftersun (2022) - Streaming on Netflix, Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime with the Paramount+ add-on, Hulu with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME add-on
• The Lost Daughter (2021) - Streaming on Netflix
• Carmen (2023) - Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
• Foe (2023) - Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Stream All of Us Strangers on Hulu, and don't miss Gladiator II in theaters this November.