A young girl recounts growing up in San Francisco in the ’70s and ’80s with her gay dad.

‘Fairyland’ is a coming-of-age drama based on Alysia Abbott’s memoir ‘Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father’. It tells the story of Alysia and her father Steve, who move to San Francisco in the 1970s following the death of her mother. There, Steve embraces life as a gay man in a city that is rapidly becoming a focal point of the gay rights movement, while Alysia grows up around him, observing both the opportunities and challenges that come with the life they have built together.

The film unfolds over a number of years, charting Alysia’s childhood and adolescence against the backdrop of major social and political change. What begins as a story about an unconventional family gradually broadens to encompass the AIDS epidemic and its devastating impact on the community around them. However, the film never loses sight of its central relationship, and it is at its strongest when focusing on the bond between father and daughter, and how that relationship evolves as Alysia grows older and begins to see her father more clearly as a person rather than simply a parent.

Emilia Jones and Scoot McNairy are both excellent in the leading roles. Jones captures Alysia’s journey from child to young woman with great sensitivity, while McNairy brings warmth, charisma and vulnerability to Steve. Importantly, the film doesn’t shy away from his flaws. Steve can be selfish, often prioritising his own relationships and personal freedom over his responsibilities as a father, and McNairy’s performance captures both the charm that draws people to him and the frustration he causes those closest to him.

I found ‘Fairyland’ to be a poignant and well-acted film, one that uses its historical backdrop effectively without allowing it to overwhelm the more intimate story at its centre. More than anything, it feels like one woman’s attempt to understand and make sense of her childhood, and of a father she clearly loved but often struggled with. That tension gives the film much of its emotional weight, as Alysia’s memories are shaped by both affection and disappointment. The result is a well-acted and affecting portrait of family, loss and identity, and I enjoyed this film.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Andrew Durham

Starring: Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Cody Fern, Maria Bakalova, Nessa Dougherty, Adam Lambert and Geena Davis

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt20601972/