Fairyland, dir. Andrew Durham, 2023, USA/France, 114 min., in English & French 👏
Wednesday, June 14, 6:30 pm, Castro + streaming encore
Alysia Abbott wrote a memoir about moving to San Francisco with her father in the 1970s, shortly after the death of her mother. They lived in the Haight, went to Pride events, and dealt with the everyday issues of trying to get Steve’s poetry published and getting Alysia a good education, all as AIDS began to slash through the community around them.
Despite the title, this is not an “all rainbows and unicorns” view of growing up with a gay single father. Steve left Alysia to her own devices a lot of the time, giving her a sense of independence, but also a sense of isolation. There are certainly many happy moments, but also many difficult moments, in a story as complex and as human as its protagonists. Nessa Dougherty as the pre-teen Alysia was a delight, as was Emilia Jones as the teen/collegiate Alysia, and Scoot McNairy brought Steve to life, warts and all. I arrived in the Bay Area in 1985, somewhere around the middle of the timespan of the movie, so there were also many nostalgic moments, as well. Highly recommended.
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