The new trailer for heartfelt 2023 Sundance entry Fairyland is here. Deadline called this, Andrew Durham’s feature film writing and directing debut, “a memorable one that is unlikely to leave a dry eye in the house.”
The film adapts Alysia Abbott’s moving 2013 memoir of growing up in San Francisco with her widowed father just as gay pride was taking hold and the AIDS epidemic was on the horizon. Scoot McNairy stars as Steve and Emilia Jones as his daughter Alysia. Geena Davis plays Alysia’s grandmother. The cast also features Cody Fern (American Horror Story), Maria Bakalova (The Apprentice), Bella Murphy (Coming 2 America), Adam Lambert and Nessa Dougherty in her first screen role.
Our review called the film, “at its very big heart, a universal story of family, love, staying true to who you are, and being there for each other when it counts the most.”
As for the cast, “Both actresses who share the role of Alysia at different ages, Jones and Dougherty, are excellent, with Dougherty a real find and truly irresistible as the young Alysia. McNairy is superb, particularly in a poignant heart-to-heart scene with his daughter as the ravages of AIDS start to catch up with him. The supporting cast also includes Cody Fern, very fine as Eddie, who lives in the loft with them, Maria Bakalova, who manages to make a real impression in a single scene set in the pharmacy, as does Lambert in his brief scenes as Charlie. “
Sofia Coppola serves as lead producer for this American Zoetrope production. Other producers include Durham, Megan Carlson, Siena Oberman, Greg Lauritano and Laure Sudreau.
Fairyland will be released in theaters by Lionsgate on October 10.