In “Ali and Ava,” writer-director Clio Bernard (“The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant”) has an unexpected relationship with British-Pakistani DJ Ali (Adeel Akhtar). Indulges in the emotional alchemy of unrequited romance. his wife and Eva (Claire Rashbrook), an Irish-British teacher and mother of her four children.
The two are united by their mutual affection for one of Ava’s students. This understated indie film clings uncomfortably to the surface of their relationship, yet delivers something pure, melodic and accurate. Bernard and cinematographer Ole Bratt Birkeland are unmistakable in the film, focusing on pops of vibrant blue and peach colors that splash in the misty daylight and moonlit nights of northern England towns. The handheld’s heavy camerawork favors close-up images, especially when depicting the growing bond between Ali and Ava.
Yet the on-screen chemistry between them feels forced and flat, and the decidedly tame portrayal of physical intimacy only accentuates this absence. The tensions that the relationship surfaces in Ava’s family and the white neighborhood are barely considered in the film, resulting in an unconvincing fairy tale of racial reconciliation in a distressed mill town in Yorkshire.
When the film is levitating, it blends diegetic music with traditional scoring to create the aural equivalent of a chase shot. From Bob Dylan’s 1960s folk tune “Mama You Been On My Mind” to more contemporary pop, techno and bangla grooves, the music is played consecutively in multiple scenes at a given moment, with Ali and Provides an immersive link to Ava’s internal soundtrack. What if “Ali and Ava” could blossom into a full musical? I could dance to it.
Ali & Ava
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. at the theater.