Unicorns

Unicorns is fascinating for such a simple movie, largely due to the testaments of a struggling single parent trying to make ends meet, as well as the references to the sometimes harrowing experiences of being queer and South Asian, all set against the backdrop of a casually evolving romance that feels so very real.

Unicorns traces their twin journeys toward self-acceptance with empathy, curiosity and a refreshing disregard for constricting labels.

In his debut big-screen performance, the warm-hearted and witty Patel – like Aysha – steals the show.

Buoyed by the performance by Hardy and by newcomer Jason Patel as Aysha, Unicorns pleads for understanding but does it in a way that at its best is contemplative rather than histrionic.

The movie doesn’t deal in labels — it’s not important to the filmmakers whether Luke identifies as gay, straight or bisexual — but instead presents this relationship as one that expands the provincial notion of romance someone like Luke might have had.

Co-directing Unicorns with James Krishna Floyd (the star of My Brother the Devil), who wrote the script, El Hosaini brings a streak of hopefulness to gritty social realism, with the added attraction of superstar drag queens.

Unicorns seems like a much older movie, torn from an era in which queer people were not allowed to tell their own stories, instead being reduced to secondary characters in straight plots.