‘Joyland’ Review: Unexpected Trans-Cis Romance Blossoms in a Luminous Pakistani Crowdpleaser
variety.comGuy Lodge Film CriticDiscouraged identities and taboo desires emerge tentatively into the open in “Joyland,” but unlike in a many a coming-out drama, there’s no identified villain or oppressor — just an uncertain world in its own state of societal and generational transition.
Pakistani writer-director Saim Sadiq’s confident, expressive debut feature is conscientiously fair to everyone in its Lahore-set domestic melodrama of secrets, lies and unforeseen self-discovery, but never feels like it’s hedging its bets or shying away from harder truths.
Tartly funny and plungingly sad in equal measure, this is nuanced, humane queer filmmaking, more concerned with the textures and particulars of its own intimate story than with grander social statements — even if, as a tale of transgender desire in a Muslim country, its very premise makes it a boundary-breaker.
As the first Pakistani production ever to unspool in the Cannes official selection, “Joyland” entered the festival as something of a milestone, but proved an immediate crowdpleaser on its own flavorful merits, landing the runner-up Grand Prix in Un Certain Regard and besting Lukas Dhont’s Competition breakout “Close” to the Queer Palme award.
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