Single father Luke (Ben Hardy) accidentally visits an underground club where he meets Aysha (Jason Patel). They’re immediately attracted to each other, but Luke is taken aback when he finds out Aysha is a drag queen, and he rejects her. She tracks him down and he reluctantly agrees to take on the job of driving her to gigs because he needs the extra cash.
Despite Ben’s laddish exterior and Aysha’s flamboyant style seemingly at odds, this is a very tender love story written by James Krishna Floyd. Ben’s drab life, that seems to almost exist in black and white, is enlivened by the effervescent Aysha and you feel that he would ground her. To add further complications, Aysha comes from a devout Muslim family, something that adds another level to the story.
Hardy and Patel both give outstanding, naturalistic performances. Directors Floyd and Sally El Hosaini beautifully weave the mundanity of everyday lives with the outrageousness of Aysha’s performances. The issue of race is strangely not addressed from Ben’s point of view and the ending is a bit too neat, but this is a touching and timely film.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10