I Believe in Unicorns

This is an honest, well-composed film with a unique style.

I Believe in Unicorns takes you in to the mind of a teenager as she struggles with what life has given with her. It shows her inner turmoil and hopes using fantastic imagery. And even though it is full of imagination, it presents a realistic picture of this young lady's life. It does not offer some "great solution" to life's problems. Instead,it shows the pain of growing up and facing the world for what it is - often disappointing and not all we wish it could be.

Though it is definitely geared towards a female audience, if you understand that film is an art form and not an amusement park ride - whether you are male or female - you will enjoy this coming of age picture. Try it out. It's worth it.

While most of the reviews here give this movie high scores, the overall score of 6.1, as shown on the main page, as I write this, is far more accurate. The scores of "10" that some people gave here is an insult to the great films of Kubrick, Scorsese, Coppola, and many others. A "10" means a film is perfect; this doesn't even come close to meeting that standard.

I suspect this movie is more than a bit autobiographical, since Leah Meyerhoff cast her own mother as the mother in the film. I'll give Toni and Leah Meyerhoff credit for that; it must be hard for a person with a disability to appear in a film playing themselves. I would have given the film 5 stars if not for that.

But beyond that, the film is too artsy, and far too pretentious. The stop-action animation didn't add anything to the film, in my opinion. In fact, I saw it as a way to cover up the thin writing in the script. The thin writing was further shown by the run time of the movie: 1 hour and 18 minutes. Mercifully short.

Hopefully teen girls watching this might learn a lesson about falling in love with a boy simply because he is cute. But probably not; if anything, they will emulate the lead girl in the film because they think this film is showing them a step they need to go through as part of the maturing process. I hope that isn't true.

Anyway, the movie is a quick little diversion, but nothing with any deep significance or value. I see it as a vanity project on the part of the writer/director, nothing more.

When I first saw "I Believe in Unicorns" I was immediately struck by its power; completely enamored by its sheer beauty and the importance of its narrative. What specifically struck me was how unabashedly truthful it is, unapologetically entreating us to understand a young girl's plight for serenity and what that may mean. Its pendular narrative dances between fantasy and reality revealing how a girl copes and ultimately accepts the brutalities and pain of the world in which she lives; rightfully redefining the "coming of age" genre entirely. The film really spoke to me, and I believe it to be a must see for every woman of any age.

I Believe in Unicorns is a poetic and deeply intimate film. Its greatest achievement is how it conveys the loss of innocence as a teenage girl discovers womanhood/independence through a road-trip with her boyfriend. However, this newly discovered freedom seems to be just as disturbing as the home life she seeks to escape. Meyerhoff depicts through stop- motion and an effusive color-palette the POV/Internal life of our main character--Davina. There are unicorns, knights, princesses--it's a narrative of mythology to describe how her childlike internal world is trying to make sense of the looming chaos of her adult life.

This film does not depict the empowerment of love but is a cautionary tale for the relationships we chase when we are looking to escape our circumstances. And through this cyclone, we see Davina's mythological internal world crumble as her external one transforms.

This film is sophisticated and confident in its approach. It commits to one story/character- rather then a feature aiming to dizzy us with a multitude of sub-plots. The two stories can arguably be distilled to Davina's romance with Sterling and the adventures of her mythological internal world. As a result, you leave feeling you know this person like a best friend or a lover. (A testament to Natalia Dyer's acting).

This is a treat given cinema's ever-growing plague of saccharin and one-dimensional female characters. What you learn about Davina is not just magical--but it is terrifying. And the fact that Meyerhoff gives us such a close portrait of a teenage girl is nothing short of daring (things don't just boil down to getting the romantic interest and being happy--there is nightmare that looms from even chasing one)--from first sexual encounters (the squeaky awkwardness) to finding true love for an imaginary princess. This wide spectrum exists in Davina. I only look forward to meeting more of the characters Meyerhoff brings to life.

I like this film. It has got heart, it has good intentions for the cinematic language that I so adore. I feel like the filmmaker is earnest and thoughtful with the script and the performances are very strong and show a lot of talent on her cinematic future. However, I've been following this movie online and keep seeing photos of the filmmaker, Meyerhoff at festivals. Great right? Well, yes and no. Yes, it's great the film is getting out there, it should! No because it's more that a little embarrassing to see a 38 year old woman wearing a unicorn prop on her head, as though she's so desperate to hype her film that she'll turn into a corny advertisement. Is this what cinema has come to? I should hope not, not in the cinema I know. I get it, you're supposed to do something "striking" and "wild" to stand out, but Miss Meyerhoff, if you need to walk around with a toy horn on your head to get press on your film, or to get attention, well that's just sad and pedestrian. Have some pride in yourself and your work. You are a talented filmmaker. Please take the horn off and have some respect for yourself, your collaborators and most importantly, for cinema.

Besides the corny advertising, as a critic I do recommend the film. Don't let the harsh truths discourage you. It is a VERY strong film!