Starring: Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas, Mona Goodwin
Distributor: Other
Runtime: 95 mins. Reviewed in Jul 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Bradford, Yorkshire, the suburbs. In a slice of British life, a Pakistani landlord encounters a primary school class assistant. Ali & Ava is the development of their friendship and the possibility of a loving partnership.
Yorkshire Screen welcomes its audience to come and spend some time in the city of Bradford, to meet ordinary citizens, their lives, struggles, happiness. The credits indicate that the film is not based on actual characters but, rather, a group of writers and the cast workshopped themes of life in Bradford and came up with the story of Ali and Ava.
Both can be described as ‘nice’ people. Ali represents the migrant population of the UK. Of Pakistani background, he is genial – we see him driving children to school, married to a younger woman who has ambitions to go off on her own to study and make a new life. However, they live next door to Ali’s family and they have to keep up the pretence that all is well.
On the other hand, Ava comes from Irish Catholic migrants. She is now widowed from a brutal husband. She loves her children and is a devoted grandmother, who has recently completed study to become a primary school class assistant.
Ali is played by character actor Akhtar, Ava by Rushbrook, who, 25 years earlier, played Brenda Blethyn’s daughter in Secrets and Lies. Ava is several years older than Ali.
They meet by chance at school, Ali giving her a lift home from the pouring rain. One thing they have in common is a love for music, he more for rhythms and beat, she for country and folk. In fact, there is a strong musical score playing through most of the film.
They meet, have conversations, gradual revelations about their situations, with time given to Ali and his relationship with his wife and keeping up the appearances for the whole family. Ava, on the other hand, finds that her young son takes a suspicious dislike to Ali, personal as well as racist. Those are the kinds of issues that citizens in Bradford take for granted every day. Ali has a kind of charm which can even cajole a group of nasty kids chucking stones at him by playing music.
Ava is tentative in the relationship, remembering her past. Ali is more venturesome – but, gradually, the relationship develops, despite the hostile son and encouraged by Ava’s daughter.
Yes, there are some moments of tension, but the niceness of the characters keeps us on side – and living in hope that each will find a future with each other.
A pleasing slice of Yorkshire city realism.
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