The film tells the love story between a British-Pakistani DJ and an Irish teacher with four children.
We owe Clio Barnard perhaps the best first feature film in British cinema in the last 15 years, ‘The Arbor’ (2010), an impressive twist on the foundations of social realism. In ‘Ali & Ava’, the director also removes some of the commonplaces of the genre to present a dramatic comedy with a musical aftertaste about two middle-aged people who discover love when they no longer expected it. The director fills with light one of those working-class neighborhoods almost always shown only from the gray scale.
It dismantles cultural apriorisms about its protagonists, a DJ in the process of separation and a teacher devoted to the care of students, children and grandchildren, and It gives prominence to two magnificent interpreters normally condemned to secondary roles, Claire Rushbrook and Adeel Akhtar. Through both, he details the triumphs and difficulties of falling in love when the emotional and family baggage that drags on already weighs too much. And it makes significant use of the soundtrack: the protagonists also define themselves, know and measure their differences through their favorite songs and genres.
To fall in love with an atypical romance with the soul of a pop musical in a working-class neighborhood
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The best: the sequence in which Ali and Ava exchange musical themes.
The worst: the subplots overloaded with social issues.
DATA SHEET
Address: Clio Barnard Interpreters: Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas, Natalie Gavin, Mona Goodwin, Krupa Pattani Country: United Kingdom Year: 2021 Release date: 08-26-2022 Gender: Drama Script: Clio Barnard Duration: 95 minutes
Synopsis: For different reasons, Ali and Ava feel lonely. They meet through Sofia, the daughter of Ali’s Slovak tenants whom Ava takes care of. From there and for a lunar month, a deep connection begins to grow between them, despite the aftermath of Ava’s previous relationship and Ali’s emotional turmoil; and all this fueled by the passion of both for music.
Source: Fotogramas

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.