Ali & Ava

Clio Barnard returns to Yorkshire for an endearing love story, with Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook giving perfectly judged performances.

The filmmaker Clio Barnard grew up in Yorkshire and that county has been the setting for all four of her feature films to date. In the latest of these, Ali & Ava, she again tells a story set in Bradford and, with Ole Bratt Birkeland as her photographer, she catches the atmosphere admirably. There is a great sense of affection too for the two titular figures here and it is this warmth which, together with the ideal casting of Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook, makes the film so endearing.

As a portrayal of everyday life in a working-class environment, Ali & Ava is in many ways akin to the work of Ken Loach, but it is nevertheless a love story. Central to it is the bond that grows between Akhtar’s Ali and Rushbrook’s Ava. He is a Pakistani who, along with many relatives, is a settled resident of Bradford and she is a widow of Irish stock whose own children have grown up but who works as a teaching assistant in a primary school. They meet at the school when he gives her a lift back in his car and they quickly get on well and find that they enjoy each other's company. Without any open indication that this is becoming a romance, a real friendship develops between them. However, it becomes clear that Ava’s emotions are involved when she is disturbed to learn that Ali, although childless, has a wife, Runa (Ellora Torchia). As it happens the marriage is on the rocks and therefore it does not in the event hinder the ever closer rapport shared by Ava and Ali. It is also the case that some of Ali’s relatives disapprove of their attachment but what causes particular concern is the fact that one of Ava's children, Callum (Shaun Thomas), a married man who lives nearby, is openly racist. Consequently, he is hostile to his mother being involved with Ali and, despite his views, Ava as a mother is concerned to keep the relationship with her son intact.

Ali & Ava is a film which confronts racism in British society but nevertheless maintains a tone that avoids becoming excessively heavy in the process. On the margins there are weaknesses in this film: the situation of Runa is rather inadequately addressed while on occasion Ali’s numerous relations instead of emerging as individuals tend to blur in a rather generalised way. Somewhat more of a concern, though, in dramatic terms is the way in which Callum’s hostility is somewhat too conveniently resolved. Yet everything here takes second place to the persuasively drawn central relationship. With Akhtar and Rushbrook giving such perfectly judged performances we are rooting for them all the way, a fact that effortlessly converts a personal tale into an effective social comment as well. Ali & Ava may be a gentle movie at heart but it certainly has something to say and watching it is a heartwarming experience on every level.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Claire Rushbrook, Adeel Akhtar, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas, Natalie Gavin, Mona Goodwin, Krupa Pattani, Vinny Dhillon, Tasha Connor, Macy Shackleton, Ariana Bodorova, Sienna Asfar.

Dir Clio Barnard, Pro Tracy Riordán, Screenplay Clio Barnard, Ph Ole Bratt Birkeland, Pro Des Stéphane Collonge, Ed Maya Maffioli, Music Harry Escott, Costumes Sophie O’Neill.

Moonspun Films/BBC Films/BFI Film Fund/Screen Yorkshire-Altitude Film Entertainment.
95 mins. UK. 2021. UK Rel: 4 March 2022. Cert. 15.