11/20/2023 0 Comments Watch glancesInitially, the film prioritizes Luke’s experience ever so subtly - though both get roughly equal screen time throughout, it’s Luke the film opens on, his outsider’s perspective we follow into Aysha’s realm, and his eyes we watch steal glances away from the road at her long legs stretched out beside him. The camera tracks their increasingly comfortable body language as they navigate the party scene together, or lingers on their smiles as they chat and laugh about nothing at all off the clock. ![]() There’s magnetism between them from the start, but Unicorns builds the trust and friendship between them over time. If the premise initially seems a bit contrived, any awkwardness melts away as the walls between Luke and Aysha do. Yet somehow, both look equally at home in his car under the glow of street lamps and gas stations, and it’s on those nighttime treks that a deeper bond begins to develop. Macho Luke looks as out of place among Aysha’s dolled-up friends as she does standing in stilettos at the garage where Luke works with his father (Grant Davis). In contrast, Aysha’s is cast in sparkly dresses, colorful makeup, strobing club lights. Luke’s is one of gray austerity, all cloudy skies and dirty fingernails and blocky concrete apartments. Both needing the cash - and both reluctant to let go of the attraction that drew them together to begin with - they agree to turn the favor into a regular arrangement.ĭirectors Sally El Hoseini (who directed last year’s TIFF opener, The Swimmers) and James Krishna Floyd (the latter of whom also wrote the screenplay) sketch out Aysha and Luke’s very disparate worlds through careful, worn-in details. Nevertheless, when Aysha finds herself days later in need of a ride to a gig, she asks Luke to drive her in exchange for money. The two meet by chance when Luke stumbles into a London nightclub where Aysha is performing, and sparks fly until Luke realizes Aysha is not a cis woman. Luke is a straight white single dad from Essex who scrapes together a modest living as a mechanic Aysha is a professional drag queen from Manchester hiding her true self from her conservative Indian Muslim family. What stands between the central pair is not a lack of desire, but a clash of identities. Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations)ĭirectors: Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd Unicorns traces their twin journeys toward self-acceptance with empathy, curiosity and a refreshing disregard for constricting labels. ![]() They just have to allow themselves to have it. Because by this point, both Luke and Aysha already know on some level what they want. It sounds complicated, Luke remarks, but Aysha counters that it’s actually pretty simple: “Everybody just wants what they can’t have.”ĭespite her breezy delivery, the statement seems to hang in the air between them. On the way home after a party-ending brawl, Aysha (Jason Patel) explains to Luke (Ben Hardy) the torrid love triangle that precipitated the fight in the first place.
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