Fairyland (film)

Last updated
Fairyland
Directed byAndrew Durham
Screenplay byAndrew Durham
Based onFairyland: A Memoir of My Father
by Alysia Abbott
Produced by
  • Sofia Coppola
  • Andrew Durham
  • Megan Carlson
  • Siena Oberman
  • Greg Lauritano
  • Laure Sudreau
Starring
Cinematography Greta Zozula
Edited by
  • Peter Cabadahagan
  • Lawrence Klein
Music by Michael Penn
Production
company
Release date
  • January 20, 2023 (2023-01-20)(Sundance)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • French

Fairyland is a 2023 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Andrew Durham (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Sofia Coppola. It is based on Alysia Abbott's memoir Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father. The film stars Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Geena Davis, Cody Fern, Adam Lambert and Maria Bakalova.

Contents

Fairyland premiered on January 20, 2023 at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Premise

Shortly after the death of her mother in a car accident in 1973, Alysia Abbott moves to San Francisco to live with her father Steve Abbott, a poet and activist who comes out as gay. Steve’s bohemian lifestyle clashes with the expectations of being a parent from both the outside world and Alysia herself, who occasionally wishes for less of the independence her father gives her. Their bonds and duty to each other are tested in painful and sudden ways. Years later, she discovers a world of artists and writers, but also the AIDS crisis when people around her contract the virus to which her father also falls victim.

Cast

Production

In 2013, it was reported that American Zoetrope had successfully attained the screen rights for Alysia Abbott's memoir Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father, and that Sofia Coppola would adapt the book with Andrew Durham. Coppola would also originally produce the film with her brother Roman Coppola. [1] Durham later assumed the role of the film's sole writer and director while Coppola remained involved as a producer. [2]

In June 2022, it was announced that production had wrapped with Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Geena Davis, Adam Lambert, Cody Fern, Bella Murphy and Nessa Dougherty starring in an ensemble cast. [3] In August 2022, Maria Bakalova was also revealed to be appearing in the film. [4]

Release

It premiered on January 20, 2023 at the Sundance Film Festival. [5]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The critics consensus reads, "Drawing on one family's real-life experiences, the powerfully acted Fairyland pays poignant tribute to love and resilience in the face of adversity and tragedy." [6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100, based on 9 reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Ford Coppola</span> American filmmaker (born 1939)

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood film movement of the 1960s and 1970s and is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time. He is the recipient of five Academy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Palmes d'Or, and a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nastassja Kinski</span> German actress (born 1961)

Nastassja Aglaia Kinski is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with Stay as You Are (1978). She then came to global prominence with her Golden Globe Award-winning performance as the title character in the Roman Polanski-directed film Tess (1979). Other films in which she acted include the Francis Ford Coppola musical romance film One from the Heart (1982), erotic horror film Cat People (1982) from Paul Schrader, and the Wim Wenders drama films Paris, Texas (1984) and Faraway, So Close! (1993). She also appeared in the biographical drama film An American Rhapsody (2001). She is the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofia Coppola</span> American filmmaker and actress (born 1971)

Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and former actress. She has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.

<i>Lost in Translation</i> (film) 2003 film by Sofia Coppola

Lost in Translation is a 2003 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. Bill Murray stars as Bob Harris, a fading American movie star who is having a midlife crisis when he travels to Tokyo to promote Suntory whisky. There, he befriends another estranged American named Charlotte, a young woman and recent college graduate. Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris, and Fumihiro Hayashi are also featured. The film explores themes of alienation and disconnection against a backdrop of cultural displacement in Japan. It defies mainstream narrative conventions and is atypical in its depiction of romance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Zoetrope</span> American film production studio

American Zoetrope is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elle Fanning</span> American actress (born 1998)

Mary Elle Fanning is an American actress. She made her film debut as a child as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam and in the miniseries Taken (2002). She appeared in several other films as a child actress, including Daddy Day Care (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Phoebe in Wonderland, and the miniseries The Lost Room (2006). She then had leading roles in Sofia Coppola's drama Somewhere (2010) and J. J. Abrams' science fiction film Super 8 (2011).

<i>The Virgin Suicides</i> (film) 1999 film directed by Sofia Coppola

The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American psychological romantic drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola in her feature directorial debut, and co-produced by her father, Francis Ford Coppola. It stars James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, A.J. Cook, and Josh Hartnett, with Scott Glenn, Michael Paré, Jonathan Tucker, and Danny DeVito in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Cassavetes</span> American actress

Zoe Rowlands Cassavetes is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She is the daughter of filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands. She is best known for her 2007 film Broken English.

Alicia Erian is an American novelist.

Kerry Lynne Bishé is a New Zealand-born American actress. She is best known for her roles as Donna Clark in the AMC period drama series Halt and Catch Fire (2014–2017) and Lucy Bennett, the lead/narrator in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom Scrubs (2009–2010). She is also known for her supporting role in the drama film Argo (2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scoot McNairy</span> American actor and producer

John Marcus "Scoot" McNairy is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles in Monsters, Argo, Killing Them Softly, 12 Years a Slave, Gone Girl, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In television, he starred in the AMC period drama Halt and Catch Fire, True Detective, Narcos: Mexico, and the Netflix western miniseries Godless.

<i>The Bling Ring</i> 2013 film directed by Sofia Coppola

The Bling Ring is a 2013 crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola featuring an ensemble cast led by Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Rock and Leslie Mann. It is based on the 2010 Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales, which dealt with a real-life gang known as the Bling Ring. The story follows a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to burgle their homes.

<i>Touchy Feely</i> 2013 film by Lynn Shelton

Touchy Feely is a 2013 film directed by Lynn Shelton and stars Rosemarie DeWitt as a massage therapist who develops a phobia to touching skin. Other cast members include Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Elliot Page and Josh Pais. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, and was released on September 6, 2013. It gained a mixed critical reception, and grossed over $36,000 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilia Jones</span> English actress (born 2002)

Emilia Annis I. Jones is a British actress. She is best known for her lead role as Ruby Rossi in the Academy Award-winning film CODA (2021) for which she received a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actress. She is also known for playing Kinsey Locke in the Netflix series Locke & Key (2020–2022).

Katherine Chang is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rebecca Ahn in The Bling Ring (2013) and Maddie Kim in Pantheon (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Bakalova</span> Bulgarian actress (born 1996)

Maria Valcheva Bakalova is a Bulgarian actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Critics' Choice Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

<i>CODA</i> (2021 film) Film by Sian Heder

CODA is a 2021 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. An English-language remake of the 2014 French-Belgian film La Famille Bélier, it stars Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, the child of deaf adults (CODA) and only hearing member of her family, who attempts to help her family's struggling fishing business while pursuing her aspirations to become a singer.

<i>Priscilla</i> (film) 2023 film by Sofia Coppola

Priscilla is a 2023 American biographical drama film written, directed, and produced by Sofia Coppola, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon. It follows the life of Priscilla and her complicated romantic relationship with Elvis Presley.

<i>Women Do Cry</i> 2021 film

Women Do Cry is a 2021 Bulgarian drama film written and directed by Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva, and starring Maria Bakalova, Vesela Kazakova, Bilyana Kazakova, Iossif Surchadzhiev and Ralitsa Stoyanova. Set in Sofia, the film depicts 19-year-old Sonja, who is diagnosed with HIV, and the women in her family who flock around and support her.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022.

References

  1. McNairy, Dave (December 16, 2013). "Sofia Coppola Heading to 'Fairlyland'". Variety . Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  2. Greenwood, Douglas (August 12, 2022). "Sofia Coppola's next movie is an 80s AIDS drama". i-D . Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  3. Vlessing, Etan (June 6, 2022). "Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy Star in 'Fairyland' Adaptation for American Zoetrope". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  4. Grobar, Matt (August 11, 2022). "Maria Bakalova Joins Sofia Coppola's 'Fairyland', Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  5. Erbland, Kate (December 7, 2022). "Sundance 2023 Lineup: New Films from Nicole Holofcener, Brandon Cronenberg, Jonathan Majors, & More". Indiewire . Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  6. "Fairyland". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  7. "Fairyland". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.