Unicorns (2023 British film)

British drama film

Unicorns

Theatrical release poster

Directed by|

* James Krishna Floyd
* Sally El Hosaini

Written by| James Krishna Floyd
Produced by|

* Philip Herd
* Trudie Styler
* Celine Rattray
* Bill Pohlad
* Kim Roth
* Christa Workman

Starring|

* Ben Hardy
* Jason Patel
* Sagar Radia
* Ali Afzal
* Nisha Nayar
* Val The Brown Queen

Cinematography| David Raedeker
Edited by| Iain Kitching
Music by| Stuart Earl

Production
companies

* Maven Screen Media
* River Road Entertainment
* Chromatic Aberration

Distributed by|

* Signature Entertainment (United Kingdom)
* Netflix (United Kingdom)
* Cohen Media Group (United States)

Release dates

* September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08) (TIFF)
* July 5, 2024 (2024-07-05) (United Kingdom)

Running time

| 119 minutes
Countries|

* United Kingdom
* United States
* Sweden

Language| English

Unicorns is a drama film directed by James Krishna Floyd and Sally El Hosaini, released on July 5, 2024.[1][2] The film stars Ben Hardy as Luke, a single father and mechanic who is forced to question his sexual identity when he unexpectedly falls in love with Aysha (Jason Patel), a drag queen.[3]

A coproduction of companies from the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden, the film was written by Floyd, and marks his directorial debut.

The film premiered in the Special Presentations program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] It was nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards at the 2024 BIFAs, winning one.[5][6] At the 2024 Dinard Film Festival it won both the Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award.[7]

Attitude magazine called it a 'trailblazing film' and in November 2024, it was bought by Netflix for the UK. [8] For the US it was bought by Cohen Media Group for all North American rights, releasing in cinemas in 2025.[9]

## Cast

[edit]

* Ben Hardy as Luke Tilson
* Jason Patel as Aysha / Ashiq
* Hannah Onslow
* Nisha Nayar
* Michael Karim
* Sagar Radia
* Ravin J Ganatra
* Ali Afzal
* Val The Brown Queen
* Jaimie Tank
* Anthony Pius
* Saba Shiraz
* Miss Jalebi Bebe
* Adeel Ahmed
* Grant Davis
* Madelyn Smedley
* Kate Lindsey
* Dan Linney
* Karen Sampford
* Angela Phinnimore
* Karen Bartholomew
* Jenny O'Leary
* Taylor Sullivan
* Aqeel Torres

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 29 reviews.[10]

Joey Moser of Awards Daily gave the film a positive review, writing: "Unicorns is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, because we have never thought of honoring a drag love story in such a balanced way." and called it "such an important piece of new queer cinema."[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Melanie Goodfellow and Andreas Wiseman, "Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd’s New Feature ‘Unicorns’ To Shoot This Fall, Ben Hardy To Co-Star; Maven Screen Media & Chromatic Aberration To Produce". Deadline Hollywood, August 4, 2022.
2. ^ Tabberer, Jamie (5 July 2024). "Unicorns: Ben Hardy and Jason Patel on 'cross cultural romance' film about a straight man falling for a drag queen". Attitude. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
3. ^ Andreas Wiseman, "‘12 Years A Slave’ & ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Outfit River Road Joins Identity Drama ‘Unicorns’; First Look Revealed With CAA Handling At EFM". Deadline Hollywood, February 10, 2023.
4. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro, "TIFF Lineup Unveiled Amid Strikes: Awards Contenders 'Dumb Money', 'The Holdovers', 'Rustin'; Starry Pics For Sale With Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, Michael Keaton, Viggo Mortensen & More". Deadline Hollywood, July 24, 2023.
5. ^ "Nominations announced for the British Independent Film Awards 2024". BFI. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
6. ^ "The BIFA 2024 Winners Have Been Announced". BIFA. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
7. ^ Tabbara, Mona (7 October 2024). "'September Says', 'Unicorns' among winners at Dinard Festival Of British & Irish Film". Screen International. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
8. ^ Tabbara, Mona (18 November 2024). "Humans are walking paradoxes': Unicorns stars Jason Patel, Ben Hardy on trailblazing film". Screen International. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
9. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (25 March 2025). "Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd's TIFF and LFF Feature 'Unicorns' Gets North American Deal". Deadline. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
10. ^ "Unicorns (2023)". Rotten Tomatoes. USA: Fandango Media. 15 July 2025. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
11. ^ Moser, Joey (8 September 2023). "TIFF: 'Unicorns' Is a Fearless and Vital Drag Love Story". Awards Daily. Retrieved 5 March 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Unicorns at IMDb

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