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This piece contains spoilers about All of Us Strangers, including its ending.
Theres vampires at my door, Harry sighs, paraphrasing one of the songs opening lines.
Adam turns him away.
These are the first of several references to The Power of Love inAll of Us Strangers.
On close examination, the ballad unlocks some of Andrew Haighs elliptical new drama.
Its both earnest and ethereal, a grand reverie about romance that parallels Adams emotional hazards.
Purge the soul / Make love your goal, front man Holly Johnson commands on the chorus.
He put a few of those hallmarks, including the Frankie song, directly into the script.
I was so scared that night.
I just needed to not be alone, a ghostly Harry says.
The vampires he referenced at Adams door werent so abstract after all.
The pair fade into a pool of light that evokes the beginning of the Power of Love music video.
ThroughoutAll of Us Strangers, The Power of Love emerges as a sort of anchor point.
Haigh originally wanted to open with Adam watchingHellraiser, the erotic 1987 horror movie noted for itsqueer subtext.
They were insanely subversive for that moment in the early 80s.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood burned fast and bright, then disappeared.
As the song climbed the British and American charts,the BBC banned it, citing unsuitable content.
(Check out Johnsonarguing about the Relax prohibitionwith a BBC producer on an early-80s music show.)
It was meant to be as honest as we could possibly be.
Thats what we were doing as two little gay boys in front with straight musicians behind.
It just made sense.
Wed been chased through Liverpool for being gay for years and years.
You kind of got used to it.
Then we used it: Yeah, thats who we are.
The Power of Love was their third consecutive No.
1 single in the U.K.
But behind the scenes, things fell apart.
It was too much too soon, Rutherford recalls.
The following year,Johnson sued ZTTover a contract dispute and won.
The original Frankie lineup didnt perform again until 2023, when theyreunited at Eurovision.
A heartfelt aria about romances redemptive force doesnt scream controversy.
But Frankie found a way to make the project a bit cheeky.
Love is certainly the only thing that matters at the end ofAll of Us Strangers.
The next time someone like Harry comes knocking, maybe hell let him in.
It became integral to the storys DNA, much like the song was to Haighs adolescence.
I wouldnt even care if nobody liked it.
