Ali & Ava

Ali & Ava

Ava is portrayed by the talented Claire Rushbrook and it shows. Ava carries herself with self-assurance that only comes from knowing exactly who you are. She is recently widowed, her children are grown with a few grandchildren in tow, so she has no choice but to put all of her surplus love for kids into her job at an elementary school in Bradford. We see pretty early on what she’s missing. The movie written and directed by Clio Barnard tips its hand while she’s riding on a bus: A couple of young lovers sits in a row in front of her, and the wistful look she gives them breaks your heart.

Ali (the very likeable Adeel Akhtar) is feeling something closer to emptiness than longing, though his despair is more complicated. He’s a Pakistani immigrant who has managed to get himself enough ahead in life to become a landlord, and he’s not one of the bad ones; he genuinely seems interested in his tenants’ lives, which are also immigrant lives. But his marriage is disintegrating in a way that humiliates him: soon to be ex-wife Runa (Ellora Torchia) doesn’t take him seriously at all, but they’re both nonplussed by what will happen once they reveal this dissolution to their families.

Why doesn’t Runa take Ali seriously? Maybe it’s the whole wannabe DJ thing. When Ali takes one of his tenant’s daughters little Sofia (Ariana Bodorova) to school one day, he meets Ava, and before you know it they’re gently bickering about music. She loves folk; he hates folk. He likes punk and electronic beats; she has absolutely no idea what to do with those. Two guesses as to whose flat they end up dancing around together shortly thereafter earphones securely fastened over each other’s heads as they swap Karen Dalton songs for Specials tracks.

One of Ava’s adult sons storms in and flips out on them. Just slightly racistly. But the explosion subsides rather quickly, and the movie continues to meander.

This is a low-key film about low-key people. Maybe too low key for some viewers. Barnard isn’t nearly as interested in propelling her narrative forward as she is in allowing us to just be with these characters. Not just enjoy their company (such as it is), but sit with the realities of life and love within this particular working-class milieu an environment that renders isolation virtually impossible, for better or worse. There’s a reason why Ali sometimes wakes up at 4 a.m., slips on his earphones, and starts blaring music while standing atop cars.

In its quiet way, the movie is a testament to the power of connection. Ava and Ali may start speaking through musical languages, but these signals represent something deeper: Two open hearts yearning for somewhere to rest.

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