Click here to copy URL

Ali & Ava

2021

Clio Barnard

Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas ...

6.1

686

Drama. Romance Ali & Ava, both lonely for different reasons, meet and sparks fly. Over a lunar month a deep connection begins to grow, despite the legacy of Ava's past relationship, and Ali's emotional turmoil at the breakdown of his marriage.

	Author	Review
United States	Jude Dry IndieWire	"Barnard once again proves herself the bard of the British working class. In 'Ali & Ava,' (...) [she lets] the delight of unexpected connection break through the storm clouds."	POS
United States	Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"Sparky romance (...) This is her most welcoming film so far, spearheaded by two soulful, likeable performances (...) It’s cheesy, sure, but it’ll leave you with a spring in your step (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Beth Webb Empire	"Rushbrook and Akhtar's chemistry feels effortless, believable and utterly captivating (...) A compassionate and tenderly performed love story, with a musical current coursing through it (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Caroline Tsai The Playlist	"The film is a moving yet realistic exploration of a relationship across a cultural and class divide in northern England (...) However, Barnard can’t quite avoid the tropes of more conventional romantic fare"	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A social-realist tale that you might compare to Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss (...) Barnard’s film is an essay in acceptance and love (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"In 'Ali & Ava', a lovely surprise from English filmmaker Clio Barnard, music is more than just a soundtrack; it’s the characters’ very lifeblood"	POS
United States	Leslie Felperin The Hollywood Reporter	"[It's] Barnard’s slightest work, dramatically a bit thin and stuck in a conventional British social realist groove (...) The performances make this worthwhile."	NEU
United States	Anna Smith Deadline	"Ali & Ava is a charmer: Barnard’s most accessible and hopeful film to date."	POS
United States	Jason Solomons The Wrap	"Obviously, the film is a (perhaps naive) plea for tolerance, but Barnard is too careful a filmmaker to make crass demands of her audiences"	POS
United Kingdom	Fionnuala Halligan Screendaily	"The film’s adroit flow is somewhat undermined by a third act (...) But there’s enough in Ali & Ava and their characters to force the film over these bumps, and to let audiences remember the light of its stars."	POS
United States	Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"This is a gentle unassuming film about gentle unassuming people. It’s possible that many viewers might find it too gentle (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"There’s a lovely sense of equity, as two people typically defined by the ways others perceive them (...) see one another for who they really are."	POS
United States	Jake Cole Slant	"[It] is her most straightforward film to date, but it showcases her uncanny ability to capture the insoluble complexities of life, and in ways that stretch the boundaries of the social realist film (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Jared Mobarak The Film Stage	"A heartwarmingly funny, melancholic romance (...) Rushbrook and Akhtar's complexly three-dimensional performances prove as infectiously humorous as they are devastatingly honest"	POS
	Kaleem Aftab Cineuropa	"[It is fascinating until] the filmmakers decide to crowbar in a plot (...) It's all beautifully shot and put together until the final act, where it becomes a bit clichéd"	NEU

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.