I Believe in Unicorns

‘There is so much I want to say, but I don’t know where to start,’ announces the introverted Davina (Natalia Dyer, Blue Like Jazz) on her 16^th birthday – to herself, rather than to an audience. Her lonely declaration epitomises her existence to date, as she cares for her ailing mother (Toni Meyerhoff), and shares her thoughts only with her friend Cassidy (Julia Garner, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For). Mostly, her emotions manifest in vivid imaginings of both the day and evening kind, unicorns featuring prominently.

Then, in an ambling encounter innate to youthful years and small towns, Davina meets Sterling (Peter Vack, Swelter), a local skater with simmering bad boy allure. Their relationship swiftly hurtles into hot and heavy territory, a cathartic outlet for a usually forlorn soul living a life largely devoid of real connections. Unhappy with their mundane reality and buoyed by their newfound intimacy, they take their lust on the road, ‘anywhere but here’ their destination. Davina may continue to retreat into her inner images of mythical creatures and accompanying stories of heroes slaying monsters and saving princesses, but her dalliance with romance on the run soon stumbles out of the realm of fantasy.

I Believe in Unicorns not only adopts Davina’s escapist mindset, but also brings her uncertainty, insecurity and fragility to celluloid life in a glowing haze of warm imagery, soft montages and stop-motion sequences. Courtesy of a host of stylistic choices – breathy voiceover, melodic Caribbean-inspired music, and sun-dappled driving and diner shots among them – the film aims for a berth as an adolescent True Romance, albeit without the overt violence. In tracking both the heady highlights and the darker turns Davina’s days with Sterling takes, evolving from the frenetic flush of first love to the moments when playfulness is replaced with pain, it mostly succeeds.

First-time writer/director Leah Meyerhoff may be blatant in appropriating a raft of inspirations, with a wealth of other filmmaking footprints evident in an effort also filled with Terrence Malick-like lyrical shots of the lovers in natural confines; however first and foremost she remains beholden to an authentic rendering of teenage years. Loosely based on her own time caring for her own mother, I Believe in Unicorns captures not a coming of age, but a lifting of the veil of innocence that shrouds girlhood notions of life and love. Following in the footsteps of recent feature It Felt Like Love, her enchanting film takes another step forward in a refreshing trend that sees a new wave of American independent offerings starting to explore the actuality of the female passage through sexuality and towards maturity.

Tentative, tender but never timid, in a stroke of excellent casting Dyer proves a well-chosen guide for the purposefully dream-like concoction that results. She smartly and sensitively conveys the naivety of an idealistic girl looking for a saviour, as well as the determination that comes from discovering, the hard way, which boundaries Davina won’t cross. Though Vack’s Sterling is given substance beyond his brooding exterior and hints of a murky background, he remains in Dyer and Davina’s shadow; this is her story, her sentiments, and her view on the trials and tribulations of growing up. Giving a voice to a potent perspective too often ignored, through its filmmaker and star I Believe in Unicorns does what its protagonist can’t at the outset: expresses her emotions to an audience enchanted by her experiences.