American Dreams section - review - I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS by Leah Meyerhoff

Two young runaway lovers abandon the real world and set off on a road trip. But when reality comes calling and true personalities are revealed, there is no more time to believe in fairy-tales and unicorns anymore.

This is the story of a 16 year old girl who falls for an older boy, and together they set off on the road to nowhere. However, as they drive into the distance, she realises that he may not be as perfect as she thought.

Leah Meyerhoff’s I Believe in Unicorn is an ode to youthful romance that plays on the nostalgia of its themes through a variety of creative approaches. Different film stocks make for exciting visuals and stunning colour palettes. Techniques such as stop motion animation blend fantasy and imagination with love, sex and self-discovery. There is also a fair bit of poetry in the dialogue, which further strengthens its links with Malick’s Badlands – perhaps the most influential of Malick’s works especially as far as modern American cinema is concerned.

Here too, as in Badlands, the main voice is a female voice who loves to live in a world of her own – though her personality is much more artistic. Furthermore, much like in Badlands once again, there is a feeling of timelessness that envelops I Believe in Unicorns. Nevertheless, this is a film that really stands out in recent cinema, particularly in voicing modern young female’s perspective on life and love.  themes often subjected to forgery and far too much melodrama.

None of this would have worked without a genuine feeling of tenderness and the great chemistry shared by the young actors Natalia Dyer and Peter Vack. In the end, the vividness of Meyerhoff’s style becomes an extension and visual representation of very heartfelt human emotions that never attempt to escape the harshness of realism.