This skillful, absorbing and imaginative film tackles a difficult
subject not often seen on screen in a way that doesn't feel like an “issues”
film. As a film feature debut it is the work of someone with remarkable vision
and talent and was one of the most impressive and memorable films I saw at the
Festival this year.
I Believe in Unicorns is the story of 16 year old Davina
(the utterly remarkable Natalia Dyer), who is sole carer for her disabled
mother, and her relationship with the older Sterling. It is hard not to start anywhere other than
Dyer’s performance. One of the first
times we see her, on her face is a look of such vulnerability and uncertainty
that you know exactly where this character we have never met is in that moment
to a degree that you rarely get from an actor.
The rest of the performance is of a similar high quality throughout:
that the actor was 16 at the time of filming is extraordinary. Davina gains
respite from her caring responsibilities by disappearing into a fantasy world.
In these scenes, Dyer doesn’t have much dialogue to express the character
through and the film is also intercut with micro scenes where Davina is trying
to work out the precise facial expression that will capture herself exactly for
a school assignment on self-portrait.
Again, in all of these elements of the film, Dyer’s performance is pitch
perfect and nuanced, revealing in depth the precise emotional state of the
character in that moment. It is a highly challenging role, and director
Leah Meyerhoff revealed in the Q&A that character development throughout was
a collaborative effort between actor and director.
The central theme of the story is the not particularly
secure relationship between Davina and Sterling. This is a relationship of shifting power dynamics
that Davina is rarely in control of and perhaps doesn't always quite
understand. She is certainly out of her depth much of the time. The challenge for the film-makers is for us
to understand why the character would put herself in these situations, even
return to them to try gain some control back, without it just seeming like her
reasons are youthful naiveté or teenage irrationality. Aided by excellent writing and direction,
Dyer’s performance makes Davina’s choices seem believable for the character,
however much as a viewer you wish she wouldn't make them.
The way in which I Believe in Unicorns deals with the
dynamics of a relationship like this is frank, unflinching and brilliant. Meyerhoff is exploring the danger and
violence in relationships where one person has a lot more power than the other.
Davina may be consenting to sex but rarely in the way that it plays out. Any time she tries to take initiative or a
little control, Sterling will wrestle control back, often taking advantage of the
fact that Davina is trying to be ‘grown up’ and adventurous but is also young
and lacking confidence and will not resist his direction. Sterling is angry at
life and unpredictable but Davina has written her concept of the relationship,
something she sees as an exciting escape and adventure, into the fabric of her
fantasy escapes. In making the film,
Meyerhoff set out to represent the dangers of power imbalance and violence in
relationships, particularly teenage ones – the grey area which may not always
tip over into actual criminality but which is damaging and dangerous to the
person with less control and power . She does this with perception and honesty
and I hope her aim to engage teenagers in the conversation around this issue
continues to succeed.
Meyerhoff has enhanced her chances of doing so by making her
film so beautifully crafted and imaginative.
It opens with a brilliant credits-type sequence that grabs you right
into the story, giving you Davina’s backstory through a freeze frame and stop
motion whirl of photographs of Davina’s increasingly ill mother and her
birthday cakes through the years. I knew
I was hooked from those opening minutes.
Meyerhoff has shot on Super 8 and Super 16 and used only in-camera
effects to give the film, particularly the fantasy elements, the feel of
something Davina might have crafted herself.
This ensures the fantasy sequences, for example Davina’s fairy tale of unicorns
and dragons, feel like they have come from the character’s own mind rather than
as the whim of a flashy director (which could have been the feeling if they
were done in a more ‘sophisticated’ or hi-tech way). The little details within
these scenes are yet another avenue into our understanding of and empathy with
Davina. The film is also excellently edited, making the viewer fully entwined
in Davina’s moods and emotions. Somehow
both the lo-tech effects and clever editing never feel like we are jarringly
switching between trivial and gritty, or between artsy and real: they feel like
two genuinely intertwining parts of a wider puzzle – the puzzle that is Davina
trying to figure out what she wants and what she needs.
This is a film that I cannot speak highly enough of. Some scenes of Davina and Sterling together
are hard to watch because you feel every moment of Davina’s fear and
uncertainty. But the inventiveness of the fantasy scenes keeps the audience
going in the way that they keep Davina going.
Meyerhoff is clearly a director of amazing perception and creativity and
I can’t wait to see what she does next.
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