User Reviews

It took a couple of days of pondering on this film to fully grasp how beautiful, raw and honest it is. I grew up on a council estate about 5 miles from Holme wood - which was very similar. The film captures how even in the same community/town how classism and prejudice is directed at people living on the estate (echoes my own experiences of people living in the village down the road often judging those who lived on the estate and my own family members even judging). Also the way is captures the subtle racial tensions between communities ... that never feel outright but are present. It also captures how these communities co-exist and get on also..

Initially when I left the cinema I felt frustrated that there was no complete resolution - no holding family members to account - but after a couple of days I realised that's the beauty of the ending. It's real - often we don't hold family members to account. We forgive them too quickly, we listen to their opinions but half the time end up doing what we want regardless

Thank you to the team for capturing these communities and putting it the screen!

It wears its emotional beats well and features a relationship that's easy to root for, but a growing sense emerges that none of the conversations you'd want/expect to be had make it to screen. A blindsidingly abrupt ending cuts the potential drama short and it doesn't do its complicated family dynamics and themes of parenthood & racism justice. So subtle that it just about qualifies as lipservixe. Mental illness, loneliness, domestic abuse and intersectionality rear their head briefly, but this isn't a story willing or fit to make them...relevant. Beautiful, likeable performances (even able to make a Landlord sympathetic!) but considering how genuine the core of the film is, I wish there were more closure or resolution to the social stigmas & gross family members that hassled them all movie.

This film could have been so much more. The lead characters are both superb actors, the gritty backdrop of Bradford is ideal and the challenge of inter racial relationships is extremely relevant in today's world.

I was hoping for something along the lines of "Secrets and Lies" (which incidentally featured an outstanding performance by Claire Rushbrook) but Ali and Ava was let down by poor cinematography, inaudible dialogue and implausible story telling.

Let's deal with the cinematography first. The camera was far too invasive. Lots of ultra close ups of eyes, cheeks, noses. And the camera is constantly moving. Haven't they got any tripods on the set?

Next, sound. I watched it with subtitles and it was invaluable if the dialogue was to be understood. So much mumbling and slurred speech. Really frustrating.

Finally, plot. Here just some of the questions I was left with... 1: why would the kids randomly stone a passing car? Was it because Ali was driving it?

2: why would Ali pile all these kids into his car and take them for a ride? Very dodgy behaviour in today's world.

3. Why was Ali waiting outside Ava's house with his headphones on?

4: why did fireworks feature on three separate occasions? Was it Bonfire Night over and over again?

5: where did they go on the train? We got one brief shot on a hill and another in some random bedroom.

6: why did Ali take Ava under a bridge at a station when they could have just gone home?

7: why did Ali's wife feel attracted to him then leave then next morning?

So, in summary, very disappointing. I've always loved kitchen sink dramas over the years and directors like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh really know to put them on screen.

Ali and Ava could have been a landmark film, but it simply did not deliver. Pity.

This against-all-odds relationship story I found a touch slow and I didn't buy the story either. I found although well acted by both leads, they just didn't have chemistry together. She is twice as big as him. He is to Asian and she is to Northern. Why is Ali collecting his Hungarian tenant's little girl from school? Why are those kids stoning Ali's car then getting in the car which is very strange behaviour. I found Ali got on my nerves and the music particulary the techno very irritating. The actions of both leads was dubious. Would Ali really have pursued a relationship after being threatened by the racist son with that sword? Would she have pursued a relationship with him knowing how her family would react? Would she have allowed Ali to sleep in her racist sons bed overnight? She put him there yet he could have gone home. They both appeared to live in rundown houses, yet she was a school teacher and he owned properties. Rather focusing on influencing each other on music tastes, they could have made more of the racist element of her son. The funniest part of the movie is when the son comes out wearing those national front boots. Why is the son almost always holding the baby. Just didn't believe it that much.

For me this film was absolute perfection and the jewel of this year's Leeds International Film Festival. A romance between two people nursing broken hearts with all the flaws and pain from the history of their lives, for Ava an abusive ex and traumatic relationship and for Ali the breakdown of a marriage and the unfulfilled yearning for children. Ali and Ava find solace and comfort in each other and a love that seemed so unlikely, despite the expectations and the prejudices of their respective families. It was funny, it was heartbreaking, grim, optimistic and beautiful. A love letter to Bradford and to the people who make their lives there, messy and chaotic and wonderful. Couldnt have loved it more.

This film by the ever great Clio Barnard, is without a doubt one of the best films of the year, and yet another testament to her abilities as one of England's best filmmakers.

The script is very powerful, accompined by incredible acting, some of the best in their careers for sure, and a small-scale yet very effective and perfectly paced narrative that does wonders.

It tells a very powerful story of love and the circumstances that does not fully allow it, and it's very emotional, funny and all around well-written.

A incredibly well cinematographied, cut and edited piece, that is beautifully shot and all around put together.

Very much a film that I would recommend for any lover of film!

All the norman expectations don't apply for this complex and well-crafted filum. The main characters Ali and Ava are both emerging, wounded and confused from collapsed intimate and somehow unfinished relationships, where thier extended families are niether 'in the know' nor understanding of their errant family members who are attracted irresistably to each others intuitive understanding and love for one other's ability to function in the haze of half-realised, shadowy phantoms from their family dynamics which hint at the profound disorientation and lack of cohesion in their daily lives.

Uncomfortably desperate, they cling to on another like the children they care for and inspire in their separate lives. As if, nothing else matters, their love for on another blossoms as they find a deep and unusual understanding in the other as they each seem to give each other the propect of what they need to progress with their struggle. Their love unlocks a boundless fund of caring and much-needed mutual love despite the cultural and racial differences between them.