The next great gay love story? ‘Unicorns’ already has audiences swooning
Unicorns—a British love story that just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to rave reviews—is exactly the kind of movie we’ve been waiting for.The film centers on a blue-collar mechanic and single father named Luke (Ben Hardy) who, for all intents and purposes, assumes himself to be straight.
But one night he unknowingly walks into a South Asian queer night at a local bar, and immediately finds himself transfixed by Muslim drag queen Aysha (Jason Patel).The only thing is: He doesn’t realize Aysha is man in a wig.
Thinking Luke does know what he’s getting into, Aysha engages in some heavy flirting, and then two wind up going home together.Of course, it’s there that Luke realizes the truth and, confused, asks Aysha to leave, which winds up being a rather costly cab drive home—especially considering nobody got any action.Feeling slighted and strapped for cash, Aysha devises a plan: Luke is going to be his personal driver, giving him a lift from gig after gig, and the queen will share a portion of the profits in return.As you might guess, all that time in the car gives the pair plenty of time to get to know each other.
But this is no Driving Miss Daisy. Luke, especially, has to put his preconceived notions aside—both of Aysha, and of his own sexuality.
