In “Ali & Ava,” writer-director Clio Barnard (“The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant”) delves into the emotional chemistry of an unexpected romance between Ali (Adeel Akhtar), a British-Pakistani DJ who recently separated from his wife and Ava (Claire Rushbrook), an Irish-British teacher and mother of four.
The two are brought together by their mutual affection for one of Ava’s students, and this low-key indie film barely clings to the surface of their relationship, while still delivering something pure, melodic, and precise. Focusing on pops of bright blue and peach color bursting through the hazy daylight and moonlit nights of a northern English town, Barnard and cinematographer Ole Bratt Birkeland manage to imbue the film with an undeniable warmth. Hand-heavy camerawork prioritizes close-up images, especially when it comes to depicting the growing bond between Ali and Ava.
Still, the on-screen chemistry between them feels forced and flat, and the decidedly tame depictions of physical intimacy only accentuate that absence. The tension that surfaces in Ali and Ava’s interracial relationship within Ava’s white family and neighborhood is barely captured in the film, and the result is an unconvincing fairy tale of racial reconciliation in a beleaguered industrial town in Yorkshire.
When the film is carrying, it is by its mixture of diegetic music and traditional music to create the auditory equivalent of a dolly. From Bob Dylan’s 1960s folk song “Mama You Been On My Mind” to his more contemporary pop, techno and bhangra grooves, the music plays continuously across multiple stages at select times, giving us an immersive connection to Ali and Ava’s internal soundtracks. Which makes you wonder: what if “Ali & Ava” could have blossomed into a full-fledged musical? I could dance to it.
Ali and Ava
Unclassified. Duration: 1h35. In theaters.