Directed By: Saim Sadiq
Starring: Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani
Plot Summary: As the happily-patriarchal Rana family longs for the birth of a baby boy, the youngest of the Rana men secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and finds himself falling for a fiercely ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family’s desire for a sexual rebellion.
The best kind of films leave us inspired, and ultimately, they can shape and mold our worldviews. The greatest works of art should make us strive to be better people. Truly great films, however, can be used as an act of social revolution. With his latest film, Joyland, director Saim Sadiq lobs a grenade in the face of conservatives in this touching love story. The film has made history in many ways, including being the first Pakistani film to premier at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won the Jury Prize and Queer Palm for outstanding LGBT cinema. For a period, the film was banned in its home country, though that was thankfully overturned. In an ironic and bitter twist, the movie that was meant to highlight inequality was initially met with backlash and censorship. With all this attention, you might be curious about all the hype surrounding this film. We are happy to report that Joyland is every bit of the haunting and thought provoking as you might hope.
Director Saim Sadiq impresses in his feature directorial debut with how he is self-assured enough to give the drama and the characters plenty of space to breathe. Sure, this results in a longer runtime, yet the time is well spent here. We get a very real sense of the players, their lives, and their daily struggles in a system that seemingly is stuck in the past.
The movie takes a critical lens on the strict social order, and how it’s hard to really thrive if you are someone who is LGBTQ. But it also examines life as a woman, and the expectations that are saddled on them. This is reflected in Haider (Ali Junejo), wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), and Biba (Alina Khan), a trans woman. Clearly, Biba being a trans woman makes her life more difficult, yet Mumtaz is also trapped in a system that doesn’t value her. Both Haider’s and Mumtaz’s families act as a sort of microcosm for this very rigid culture. It’s only when Haider pursues his dream of dancing (once considered a very typically female coded occupation) and meets Biba that he is truly able to come to life.
Sadiq never pulls any punches in his depiction of a system that is harsh and steeped in outdated gender-based roles. The director should be given a lot of credit for being able to handle tricky subject matter in a way that feels authentic and tactful. Joyland thankfully never falls into the “bury your gays” trap, something that is much appreciated. So many Queer movies and television shows focus on our trauma and never our joy. The movie is bittersweet, but the finale suggests something beautiful and hopeful.
With a laser focus on every small detail and a color palette that marvels, it would be a mistake not to applaud Joyland’s visual flare. While yes, the film focuses on the painfully mundane, it also allows itself to give bursts of splendor. The film hits the mark on production design, shot composition and costumes, but all of this would be moot without a great central cast to perfectly bring to life this drama. Ali Junejo brings a quiet and understated performance that grounds the narrative in reality. Alina Khan gives a brave and completely engaging turn and really does give this film its beating heart. Together, the pair have a nice chemistry, and it’s believable that they would form a bond.
Joyland may not be the smile fest as the name suggests, it is however a deep well of complex human emotion and connection that gives the old institutions a much needed poking.
Joyland is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Joyland may not be the smile fest as the name suggests, it is however a deep well of complex human emotion and connection that gives the old institutions a much needed poking.
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GVN Rating 9
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Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.